Formation of grown-in defects in molecular beam epitaxial Ga(In)NP: Effects of growth conditions and postgrowth treatments

Effects of growth conditions and post-growth treatments, such as presence of N ions, N2 flow, growth temperature, In alloying, and postgrowth rapid thermal annealing (RTA), on formation of grown-in defects in Ga(In)NP prepared by molecular beam epitaxy are studied in detail by the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique. Several common residual defects, such as two Ga-interstitial defects (i.e., Gai-A and Gai-B) and two unidentified defects with a g factor around 2 (denoted by S1 and S2), are closely monitored. Bombardment of impinging N ions on grown sample surface is found to facilitate formation of these defects. Higher N2 flow is shown to have an even more profound effect than a higher number of ions in introducing these defects. Incorporation of a small amount of In (e.g., 5.1%) in GaNP seems to play a minor role in the formation of the defects. In GaInNP with 45% of In; however, the defects were found to be abundant. Effect of RTA on the defects is found to depend on initial configura...