A broad optical absorption band with a peak near 1 mu m is present in most
single crystals of ZnGeP2. These same crystals have an electron paramagneti
c resonance (EPR) signal which has been assigned to singly ionized zinc vac
ancies. A direct correlation between the intensity of the optical absorptio
n at 1 mu m and the intensity of the EPR signal has been established using
a set of ZnGeP2 crystals where this absorption varied widely. These results
suggest that the singly ionized zinc vacancy acceptor plays a direct role
in the electronic transition(s) responsible for the 1 mu m optical absorpti
on. In separate experiments, it was found that illuminating the ZnGeP2 crys
tals with a He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) while at temperatures near 25 K produces
an increase in the absorption at 1 mu m and an increase in the zinc vacanc
y EPR spectrum. These latter results provide further evidence that the abso
rption at 1 mu m is associated with the singly ionized zinc vacancy accepto
r. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)07624-0].