Mechanism of free electron concentration saturation phenomenon in Te-GaSb single crystal*

Abstract Te-doped GaSb single crystal grown by the liquid encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) method exhibits a lag of compensating progress and a maximum carrier concentration around 8×10 17 cm −3 . The reason for this phenomenon has been investigated by a quantity concentration evaluation of the Te donor and native acceptor. The results of glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) and Hall measurement suggest that the acceptor concentration increases with the increase of Te doping concentration, resulting in the enhancement of electrical compensation and free electron concentration reduction. The acceptor concentration variation is further demonstrated by photoluminescence spectra and explained by the principle of Fermi level dependent defect formation energy.