p-i-n photodiodes were fabricated on nitrogen ion implanted undoped ZnSe/n-type ZnSe epilayers grown on n+GaAs (100) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. To obtain a quasi-uniform p layer doping profile, nitrogen ions at multiple energies and ion doses were implanted at room temperature. The activation of implanted species was carried out by an optimized post-annealing in a nitrogen ambient. Optical studies were performed on the implanted/annealed devices by photoluminescence spectroscopy at 10 K, which indicated donor–acceptor pairs at an energy of 2.7 eV and its phonon replicas with 30 meV intervals. The circular p-i-n diodes with a 1 mm diam contact area showed a device breakdown voltage to be linearly dependent on the thickness of the undoped ZnSe epilayer. For p-i-n diodes fabricated on an initial 0.5 μm thick undoped ZnSe layer, an ideality factor of 1.19 and a reverse bias breakdown voltage of 12 V was observed. A large photocurrent, good linearity with light intensity, and low dark current were observed. A photocurrent/dark current ratio >105 was obtained at an illumination intensity of 100 mW/cm2. These devices exhibited a responsivity of 0.025 A/W at a wavelength of 460 nm through the top 200 Å thick metal contacts.

Nitrogen ions were implanted into ZnSxSe1−x epilayers grown on p-GaAs (100) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Dopant activation and annealing out the implant damage were achieved by a postannealing process in a N2 ambient. Schottky structures employing the implanted p-type ZnSxSe1−x were fabricated and device efficacy was examined by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, current–voltage (I–V), current–voltage temperature (I–V–T), and high frequency capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. PL spectra showed a clear donor–acceptor pair (DAP) recombination at an energy of 2.735 and 2.72 eV, in both MBE and MOCVD ZnSSe epilayers, respectively, regardless of the postannealing temperatures. The diode conduction in forward bias proceeds by the combination of thermionic and tunneling emission. C–V measurement proved the maximum doping concentration to be around 1017 cm−3 after ion implantation.