METASTABILITY OF ARSENIC ANTISITE-RELATED DEFECTS CREATED BY ELECTRON-IRRADIATION IN GALLIUM-ARSENIDE

By irradiation of semi-insulating GaAs with high energy electrons at l ow temperatures three As antisite-related defects axe produced, one of which is the well-known EL2 defect. We performed magneto-optical meas urements to investigate the metastability properties of the other two antisite-related defects, in particular those of an anti-structure pai r which consists of an As antisite defect with a Ga antisite defect in the next nearest neighbour position. All three As antisite-related de fects show metastability. Because of striking similarities of the meta stability between all As antisite-related defects, we conclude that th e metastability must be caused by the same microscopic process, presum ably determined by the antisite atom.