Gettering of epitaxial indium arsenide by the rare earth element holmium

Abstract

The results of a study of the galvanomagnetic properties of indium arsenide grown by liquid-phase epitaxy are presented. It is shown that the use of the rare earth element holmium in the growth of InAs epitaxial layers makes it possible to reduce the electron concentration by two orders of magnitude to n=2.1·1015 cm-3 at T=77 K. This effect is due to the gettering of shallow background impurities with the formation of their compounds in the melt. With an increase in the holmium content of more than 0.12 mol.% the concentration of current carriers in the material begins to increase, while mobility decreases due to the influence of VAs-Ho donor centers. This method of gettering is promising for obtaining A3B5 materials with a low concentration of current carriers, which are in demand in the optoelectronic industry. Keywords: indium arsenide, rare earth element, Hall coefficient, concentration of current carriers, mobility of current carriers.