Surface Defect States in MBE-Grown CdTe Layers.

Semiconductor surface plays an important role in the technology of semiconductor devices. In the present work we report results of our deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) investigations of surface defect states in nitrogen doped p-type CdTe layers grown by the molecular-beam epitaxy technique. We observed a deep-level trap associated with surface states, with the activation energy for hole emission of 0.33 eV. DLTS peak position in the spectra for this trap, and its ionization energy, strongly depend on the electric field. Our measurements allow to determine a mechanism responsible for the enhancement of hole emission rate from the traps as the phonon-assisted tunnel effect. Density of surface defect states significantly decreased as a result of passivation in ammonium sulfide. Capacitance-voltage measurements confirmed the results obtained by the DLTS technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]