Transmission electron microscopy and carrier concentration measurements were used to characterize the layer interdiffusion mechanism of a Se-doped AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs superlattice during high-temperature annealing. By varying the annealing environment and comparing the results with similarly annealed un-doped superlattices and Mg-doped superlattices, it was found that layer interdiffusion occurred via the interaction of the Se impurity with native defects which were associated with As-rich conditions. The most likely candidate was suggested to be the column-III vacancy.

D.G.Deppe, N.Holonyak, K.C.Hsieh, P.Gavrilovic, W.Stutius, J.Williams. Applied Physics Letters, 1987, 51[8], 581-3