Sequential etch analysis of electron injection in p/sup +/-GaAs

The influence of heavy impurity doping on electron injection currents in p/sup +/-n diodes is investigated experimentally. By extracting the n=1 diffusion current after successive etches of the p/sup +/-layer, the electron injection current is characterized. The technique is applied to a metal organic chemical vapor decomposition (MOCVD) grown GaAs solar cell Zn-doped 1.2*10/sup 10/ cm/sup -3/ on the p-side. The results, which demonstrate that so-called bandgap narrowing effects enhance the injected electron current, have important implications for the design of GaAs solar cells and bipolar transistors.<
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