Deep level transient spectroscopy characterization without the Arrhenius plot

Defect characterization by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) requires the extraction of two key quantities of the carrier emission rate from the defects—activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (ν0)—the latter is related to the carrier capture cross section. This task, ubiquitous to thermally activated processes besides defect–carrier interaction, is traditionally accomplished by constructing an Arrhenius plot with DLTS peak locations and fitting it with a line. We present a transformation method based on the Arrhenius equation that extracts Ea and ν0 without constructing or line-fitting the Arrhenius plot and bypasses peak identification. This method is developed on the basis of the fundamental temperature-rate duality relationship and extracts Ea and ν0 by matching the curvatures the Arrhenius-transformed spectra of the iso-thermal and iso-rate DLTS scans in the 2D temperature-rate plane. The extraction can be conducted with data in a small temperature range and is, therefore, capable of unambiguously resolving Ea and ν0 at any temperature point and their temperature dependence, if any.