Minority-Carrier Lifetime in AlxGa1-xAs

The minority-carrier lifetime of AlxGa1 x As has been measured in epitaxial materials grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A general trend shows that the lifetime decreases with aluminum concentration x as reported previously. The lifetime at x~0.4 is appreciably larger in LPE material than in MOCVD material. At all x values, the lifetime of MOCVD material increased with the growth temperature. The results indicate that bulk Shockley-Read-Hall recombination dominates the lifetime. The latter are very dependent upon the growth conditions.