Enhancing dopant solubility via epitaxial surfactant growth

A general concept for enhancing dopant solubility via epitaxial surfactant growth is proposed. The key of the concept is to find the appropriate surfactants that generate high (low) levels that can transfer electrons (holes) to dopant acceptor (donor) levels in p-type (n-type) doping, thus significantly lowering the formation energy of dopants. Using first-principles density-functional calculations, our concept explains excellently the recently discovered dual-surfactant effect of Sb and H on enhancing Zn doping in epitaxially grown GaP(100) thin film and suggests that sole surfactant Te can also induce enhancement of N solubility in ZnSe(100) film. We also proposed the surfactants for enhancing p-type doing of ZnO with epitaxial growth with (0001̄) surface. General rules for selecting surfactants for enhancing both p-type and n-type dopings are provided.