Effect of In doping in GaSb crystals studied by cathodoluminescence

The luminescence properties of In doped GaSb single crystals have been stud ied by the cathodoluminescence (CL) technique in the scanning electron micr oscope. It has been found that indium induces a certain reduction on the na tive acceptor concentration in contrast to what occurs with other isoelectr onic dopants (e.g. aluminium). Large In concentrations lead to the formatio n of the ternary compound InxGa1-xSb as revealed by CL spectra and x-ray me asurements. In particular, a luminescence band and x-ray diffraction peaks observed in highly doped samples are attributed to the presence of InxGa1-x Sb.