Donor level of interstitial hydrogen in GaAs

The first data evidencing the existence of the donor level of the interstitial hydrogen in GaAs are presented. The abundant formation of the ( 0 / + ) donor level after in situ low-temperature implantation of hydrogen into the depletion layer of GaAs Schottky diodes has been observed and the activation energy and annealing properties have been determined by Laplace DLTS. The activation energy for electron emission of this donor state is 0.14 eV. Above 100 K the hydrogen deep donor state is unstable, converting to a more stable form when there are electrons available for the capture process. A slightly perturbed form of the hydrogen donor in its neutral charge state can be recovered by illuminating the sample. This process releases twice as many electrons as the ionisation process of the hydrogen donor state itself. This fact, by analogy with the silicon case, evidences the negative-U behaviour of hydrogen in GaAs.