The donor level of vanadium in InP

Abstract

We have studied p-type vanadium-diffused InP by deep-level transient spectroscopy. A level at 0.21 eV above the valence band is observed at a concentration comparable to that of vanadium. This level is interpreted as the V3+/V4+ donor state of vanadium in agreement with photoluminescence excitation experiments on n-type InP:V. Measurement of the photoneutralization cross section allows us to observe, for the first time, an excited state of a transition metal ion in resonance with the valence band. This observation confirms the charge state of the level that we have found.