Effect of deep impurity on electric characteristics of epitaxial GaAs structures

The electric characteristics of the p ⁺-i-n ⁺ structures are analyzed for two types of GaAs epitaxial layers: the structures with an i layer based on undoped GaAs and an i layer based on GaAs:Cr. The forward currents of the first-type diodes are caused by recombination in the space-charge region. The reverse I–V characteristics at the voltages to 10–15 V are determined by the component of the generation current. At |U| > 20 V, the current growth is caused by the Poole-Frenkel effect, which is replaced by electron tunneling through the potential-barrier top with increasing the voltage as a result of the electron-phonon interaction. The forward branches of the I–V characteristics of the p ⁺-i-n ⁺ diodes with the i layer based on GaAs:Cr are explained by the unipolar injection in the semiconductor, which is replaced by the bipolar injection with increasing the voltage. The reverse I–V characteristics are linear in the range of 1–15 V; at |U| > 20 V, an increase in current is caused by the impact ionization.