ion implantation of bismuth into GaP. I. photoluminescence

Photoluminescence from the bismuth isoelectronic trap implanted into GaP is investigated for various ion doses and annealing conditions. A thin coating of silicon oxide is found to be essential to prevent thermal decomposition of the implanted surface during annealing. In isochronal anneal studies the intensity of the Bi luminescence increases rapidly between 650 and 800°C. For 200 keV implants, the dose for maximum luminescence is ∼3.5 × 1012 ions/cm2, corresponding to an average concentration of ∼1018/cm3. However, for the optimum dose and anneal, one observes only ∼10 per cent of the light intensity expected from the estimated number of substitutional ions, and the emitting ions are situated in lattice sites with strong local strain. This strain is evident in the photoluminescence spectrum by the appearance of a strong no-phonon line which results from an otherwise forbidden transition when strain or an external field are present. The luminescence data are correlated with channeling experiments reported in a companion paper.