Minority-carrier diffusion length, minority-carrier lifetime, and photoresponsivity of {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

Journal Article · Wed Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3596565· OSTI ID:21538434

Akutsu, Keiichi; Kawakami, Hideki; Suzuno, Mitsushi; Yaguchi, Takashi ^[1]; Jiptner, Karolin; Chen, Jun; Sekiguchi, Takashi ^[2]; Ootsuka, Teruhisa ^[3]; Suemasu, Takashi ^[1]

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1. Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan)
2. National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan)
3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan)

We have epitaxially grown undoped {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} films on Si(111) substrates via atomic-hydrogen-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} films grown without atomic hydrogen exhibited p-type conduction with a hole density of over 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3} at room temperature (RT). In contrast, those prepared with atomic hydrogen showed n-type conduction and had a residual electron density that was more than two orders of magnitude lower than the hole density of films grown without atomic hydrogen (of the order of 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3} at RT). The minority-carrier diffusion length was estimated to be approximately 16 {mu}m using an electron-beam-induced current technique; this value is twice as large as that for {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} prepared without atomic hydrogen. This result could be well explained in terms of the minority-carrier lifetimes measured by a microwave photoconductance decay technique. The 1/e decay time using a 904 nm laser pulse was approximately 17 {mu}s, which is much longer than that for {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} prepared without atomic hydrogen (3 {mu}s). The photoresponsivity reached 13 mA/W at 1.31 {mu}m, which is the highest value ever reported for {beta}-FeSi{sub 2} films.

• OSTI ID: 21538434
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 109, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3596565; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CAPTURE
CARRIER LIFETIME
DIFFUSION LENGTH
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRON DENSITY
EQUIPMENT
EROSION
IRON SILICIDES
LASER RADIATION
LAYERS
LOSSES
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOIL CONSERVATION
SUBSTRATES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
BEAMS
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
DIMENSIONS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EPITAXY
IRON COMPOUNDS
LENGTH
LEPTON BEAMS
LIFETIME
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
PARTICLE BEAMS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
SILICIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
TEMPERATURE RANGE
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS