We use dark current–voltage measurements on junctions as a direct probe of the dominant recombination mechanism in this material. The dark current is dominated by recombination through traps. Using the classic theory of Sah, Noyce, and Shockley, we deduce trap energies and carrier capture lifetimes as a function of band gap The trap energy is found to be roughly constant at ∼0.4 eV below the conduction band or above the valence band as decreases from ∼1.1 to 0.9 eV with increasing [N]. Concomitantly, the capture lifetimes decrease from 5 to 0.08 ns. This rapid decrease has important implications for performance of high-[N] minority-carrier devices.
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