Defect-induced trap-assisted tunneling current in GaInNAs grown on GaAs substrate

We present the reverse-bias current-voltage and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) characteristics of a Ga0.90In0.10N0.033As0.967∕GaAs positive-intrinsic-negative photodiode (Eg=0.92 eV) and a trap-assisted tunneling model which considers generation-recombination and tunneling mechanisms. Using trap parameters obtained from the DLTS measurement, the model generates current-voltage characteristics of the photodiode, which were found to be in good agreement with experimental current-voltage curves at different temperature. The model also suggests that high dark current at low reverse-bias voltage is caused by the presence of traps which have low activation energy. Furthermore, it is predicted that approximately ten times reduction in the dark current can be achieved when the trap concentration of type H-1 (Ea=0.15 eV) is reduced by one order. On the other hand, a similar reduction in defect concentration of type H-2 (Ea=0.40 eV), which is nearer to midgap does not produce the same effect.