Erbium-doped GaAs grown using the novel precursor tris(3,5-di-tert-butylpyrazolato)bis(4-tert-butylpyridine)erbium

A new erbium precursor, tris(3,5-di-tert-butylpyrazolato)bis(4-tert-butylpy ridine)erbium was used to dope GaAs. Some of the incorporated erbium forms an optically active center identified as Er-2O. The optical line shape attr ibuted to this Er-2O center is much sharper and more intense than in GaAs d oped with erbium using cyclopentadienyl-based erbium sources. Co-doping GaA s:Er with shallow donors results in a quenching of the erbium-related lumin escence, while co-doping with shallow accepters results in no significant c hange in the Er-based spectrum. Mechanisms for this observed luminescence-q uenching behavior are presented. Deep level transient spectroscopy performe d on silicon or selenium co-doped GaAs : Er showed the presence of several electron traps in the upper half of the band gap. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.