The results of studying the features of the effect of irradiation with fast and full-spectrum reactor neutrons and subsequent heat treatments on the structural characteristics of InP single crystals were reported. It was shown that, in contrast to other III–V semiconductor compounds, the lattice constant decreases in InP as a result of irradiation with neutrons. Fast neutrons make the major contribution to the variation in the lattice constant. The presence of the component of thermal neutrons that gave rise to Sn atoms in the material did not bring about any appreciable variation in the lattice constant. Heat treatment of irradiated samples at up to 600C led to the annealing of radiation defects and recovery of the lattice constant; in the samples irradiated with high neutron fluences, the lattice constant became even larger than that before irradiation. An analysis of the obtained experimental data made it possible to assume that the decrease in the InP lattice constant as a result of irradiation with neutrons was mainly caused by the introduction of the PIn antisite defects that gave rise to an effect similar to that of vacancy-related defects.

Effect of Irradiation with Reactor Neutrons and the Temperature of Subsequent Heat Treatment on the Structure of InP Single Crystals. V.M.Boĭko, V.T.Bublik, M.I.Voronova, N.G.Kolin, D.I.Merkurisov, K.D.Shcherbatchev: Semiconductors, 2006, 40[6], 621-9