An investigation was made of the effect of concurrent above-bandgap laser illumination upon the damage profiles of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures that had been subjected to sub-keV Ar ion bombardment. A marked change in damage profile was observed in these samples, as compared with those that had not been laser-illuminated. The degree of degradation increased with the illumination power intensity. Below-bandgap illumination resulted in a minimal increase in the damage profile. These results indicated the possibility of a radiation-enhanced defect diffusion, and was suggested to explain the high defect diffusivity which was observed at room temperature.

C.H.Chen, D.L.Green, E.L.Hu, J.P.Ibbetson, P.M.Petroff: Applied Physics Letters, 1996, 69[1], 58-60