Carrier scattering and relaxation dynamics in n-type In0.83Ga0.17As as a function of temperature and doping density

Abstract

The carrier scattering and relaxation dynamics in an n-type In_0.83Ga_0.17As ternary alloy are investigated by measuring the temperature dependent electron Hall mobilities and the hole lifetimes as a function of doping density. The dominant scattering mechanisms in temperature ranges of T < 80 K, 80 < T < 120 K, and 120 < T < 300 K in lightly doped In_0.83Ga_0.17As are found to be impurity scattering, alloy disorder scattering and phonon scattering, respectively, while in heavily doped In_0.83Ga_0.17As alloy scattering dominates over the whole measured temperature range. By fitting the measured temperature dependent carrier lifetimes, the dominant carrier relaxation mechanisms in lightly doped In_0.83Ga_0.17As are identified to be the radiative recombination and the Shockley–Read–Hall effect for samples grown on InP and GaAs substrates, respectively. The lifetime in heavily doped In_0.83Ga_0.17As is below 10 ns with an Auger dominated recombination. Lastly, photoluminescence as well as the light absorption measurements are performed, showing that the grown lightly doped In_0.83Ga_0.17As has a high optical quality comparable to the lattice-matched In_0.53Ga_0.47As.