Carbon acceptor incorporation in GaAs grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition: Arsine versus tertiarybutylarsine

Undoped p-type GaAs epilayers were grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at 650 °C and 76 Torr using either arsine or tertiarybutylarsine (TBA), and trimethylgallium (TMG). Extremely high-purity precursors were used in order to eliminate extrinsic doping effects. Carbon acceptors from the TMG were the dominant residual electrical impurities under all growth conditions. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements were used to make a quantitative comparison of the carbon acceptor concentrations for arsine- and TBA-grown epilayers over a range of As partial pressures. For a given group V partial pressure, we report a significant reduction in carbon acceptor incorporation using TBA compared with arsine under identical growth conditions.