Spectroscopic evidence of the formation of N–H and N–D complexes in plasma hydrogenated and deuterated ZnTe:N layers

Homoepitaxially grown nitrogen-doped ZnTe layers have been exposed to a hydrogen (deuterium) plasma. After hydrogen (deuterium) diffusion, an infrared absorption band appears at 3346 cm^-1 (2489 cm^-1). It is assigned to the vibrational stretching mode of the N–H (N–D) bond. It is also shown that the absence of such detectable bands in heteroepitaxially grown ZnTe/CdZnTe layers can be explained by thermal strains originating from the difference between the ZnTe and the CdZnTe thermal expansion coefficients. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.