Electron induced dissociation of hydrogen or deuterium–silicon complexes in GaAs; application to the reliability of GaAs based electronic or optoelectronic devices

The results obtained, very recently, in n-type Si-doped GaAs passivated with a hydrogen (H) or deuterium (D) plasma, on the stability of the Si–H or Si–D complexes are summarized. It is shown that a strong dissociation of the Si–H or Si–D complexes, associated with a large isotope effect is observed when hot electrons are produced or externally injected (using an electron-beam) in Si-doped hydrogenated or deuterated GaAs. The application of these results to the reliability of III–V devices is studied. The role of hot electrons is described and the device lifetime improvement, which could be obtained by using suitable thermal annealings, is discussed.