It was recalled that Zn diffusion was usually performed in an evacuated quartz ampoule, with one source for the dopant and with a second antimonide source being used to provide an over-pressure over the GaSb during diffusion. Strict control of the system partial pressure was required in order to produce reproducible diffusion and damage-free surfaces. An alternative technique was open-tube diffusion from doped spun-on films. Such dopant emulsions had been successfully applied to some III/V semiconductors. The present work was the first report of the reproducible diffusion of Zn into GaSb from a spun-on diffusion source in an open-tube system. A Zn/SiO2 film was used as the diffusion source at temperatures of 630 or 680C. The concentration in the semiconductor could fall below the substrate dopant level due to the depletion effects of the source.

C.Heinz: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 1988, 135[1], 250-2