Identification of vacancy charge states in diffusion of arsenic in germanium

Diffusion of As into Ge from a GaAs overlayer deposited on p-type Ge substrates has been studied by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. A concentration-dependent diffusion of As atoms was observed in addition to the concentration-independent diffusion of Ga and As atoms. The concentration dependence is explained by a Fermi-level-dependent diffusion model. Arsenic atoms are shown to diffuse through Ge vacancies with the charge states 2− and 0. No presence of the singly negatively charged vacancies was observed, indicating that Ge vacancy could be a negative U center.