Interface-recombination-controlled minority-carrier lifetime in n-type gap

The effects of interface recombination on measured minority-carrier lifetime in n-type liquid-phase epitaxial GaP layers have been studied quantitatively. Results are presented for a number of different interface conditions, and analysis shows that the interface recombination velocity is high in all cases. This results in a unique dependence of interface-recombination-controlled lifetime ¿s, on layer thickness t for all values of t > ~0.5 ¿m. In most layers, the value of ¿s is low enough to influence the measured lifetime. A value for the minority hole diffusion coefficient, Dh = 4.0±0.3 cm2 s¿1, is also deduced from the ¿s data.