Resonant donor defect as a cause of compensation in p-type ZnSe: Photoluminescence studies under hydrostatic pressure - art. no. 161201

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.