Il. Kuskovsky et al., Resonant donor defect as a cause of compensation in p-type ZnSe: Photoluminescence studies under hydrostatic pressure - art. no. 161201, PHYS REV B, 6316(16), 2001, pp. 1201
We report the presence, in heavily doped and compensated ZnSe:N, of a reson
ant donor defect having an activation energy of similar or equal to 120-160
meV. The donor-acceptor pair photoluminescence observed in these materials
is quenched at pressures higher than 25 kbar. We attribute this quenching
to the shift of a resonant defect level into the band gap. A split N-N inte
rstitial on a Se site is proposed as a strong candidate for the observed de
fect. We further propose that this species is the dominant donor defect at
high p-doping levels and, consequently, is responsible for the potential fl
uctuations observed in this material. Moreover, a very important point show
n by the present ZnSe:N data is that different compensating species will do
minate in different ranges of N concentrations.