E. R. Weber

Transition metals in silicon

A review is given on the diffusion, solubility and electrical activity of 3d transition metals in silicon. Transition elements (especially, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) diffuse interstitially and stay in the interstitial site in thermal equilibrium at the diffusion temperature. The parameters of the liquidus curves are identical for the Si:Ti — Si:Ni melts, indicating comparable silicon-metal interaction for all these elements. Only Cr, Mn, and Fe could be identified in undisturbed interstitial sites after quenching, the others precipitated or formed complexes. The 3d elements can be divided into two groups according to the respective enthalpy of formation of the solid solution. The distinction can arise from different charge states of these impurities at the diffusion temperature. For the interstitial 3d atoms remaining after quenching, reliable energy levels are established from the literature and compared with recent calculations.

A systematic analysis of defects in ion-implanted silicon

A classification scheme for the different forms of implant-related damage which arise upon annealing consisting of five categories is presented. Category I damage is “subthreshold” damage or that which results prior to the formation of an amorphous layer. If the dose is increased sufficiently to result in the formation of an amorphous layer then the defects which form beyond the amorphous/crystalline (a/c) interface are classified as category II (“end of range”) damage. Category III defects are associated with the solid phase epitaxial growth of the amorphous layer. The most common forms of this damage are microtwins, hairpin dislocations and segregation related defects. It is possible to produce a buried amorphous layer upon implantation, If this occurs, then the defects which form when the two a/c interfaces meet are termed category IV (“clamshell”, “zipper”) defects. Finally, category V defects arise from exceeding the solid solubility of the implanted species in the substrate at the annealing temperature. These defects are most often precipitates or dislocation loops.In addition to presenting examples of this classification scheme, new results emphasizing category II, IV, and V defects will be presented. For category II defects, the source, dose and mass dependence as well as the influence of pre- and post-amorphization is discussed. The category IV defects which arise from buried amorphous layers in {100} oriented As implanted samples is presented. Half loop dislocations which arise during annealing of high dose As implants, are shown to originate in the category V defects and grow upon dissolution of As clusters and precipitates.

Structural properties of As-rich GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperatures

GaAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at substrate temperatures between 200 and 300 °C were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x‐ray diffraction, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. High‐resolution TEM cross‐sectional images showed a high degree of crystalline perfection of these layers. For a layer grown at 200 °C and unannealed, x‐ray diffraction revealed a 0.1% increase in the lattice parameter in comparison with bulk GaAs. For the same layer, EPR detected arsenic antisite defects with a concentration as high as 5×1018 cm−3. This is the first observation of antisite defects in MBE‐grown GaAs. These results are related to off‐stoichiometric, strongly As‐rich growth, possible only at such low temperatures. These findings are of relevance to the specific electrical properties of low‐temperature MBE‐grown GaAs layers.

Dislocation-related photoluminescence in silicon

Photoluminescence is studied in silicon, deformed in a well-defined and reproducible way. Usual deformation conditions (high temperature, low stress) result in sharp spectra of the D1 through D4 lines as recently described in the literature. New lines D5 and D6 emerge for predeformation as above and subsequent low-temperature, high-stress deformation. Another new sharp line, D12, is observed when both the familiar and the novel lines appear simultaneously. Annealing for 1 h atTA≳ 300 °C causes all new lines to disappear and the D1–D4 spectra to reappear. Quantitative annealing and TEM micrographs suggest that D5 is related to straight dislocations and D6 to stacking faults, whereas D1–D4 are due to relaxed dislocations. Photoluminescence under uniaxial stress shows that D1/D2 originate in tetragonal defects with random orientation relative to 〈100〉 directions, whereas D6 stems from triclinic centers, preferentially oriented — as are the D3/D4 centers. We conclude that the D3/D4 and the D5 and D6 defects are closely related, whereas the independent D1/D2 centers might be deformation-produced point defects in the strain region of dislocations.

Physics of Copper in Silicon

This article reviews the progress made in the studies of copper in silicon over the last several years and puts forward a comprehensive model of the behavior of copper in silicon. Technical aspects of this model are discussed in detail. It is shown that many important aspects of the behavior of copper in silicon are not shared with the other 3d transition metals. The positive charge state of interstitial copper makes its defect reactions Fermi-level-dependent, and results in a noticeable difference in the out-diffusion and precipitation behavior of copper in n-Si and p-Si. The extremely high diffusivity of copper in silicon, which is a consequence of the small ionic radius of copper and its relatively weak interaction with the silicon lattice, makes it highly mobile at room temperature and impacts the stability of copper complexes. Large lattice strains and electrostatic effects in p-Si make the formation of copper-silicide precipitates in the hulk energetically unfavorable, unless the chemical driving force for precipitation is high enough to overcome the nucleation and precipitation harrier. Literature data on the effect of copper on minority carrier lifetime and device yield are analyzed using our improved understanding of the physics of copper in silicon. Finally, the impact of the physics of copper in silicon on the development and characterization of copper diffusion barriers is discussed.

The advanced unified defect model for Schottky barrier formation

The advanced unified defect model (AUDM) for GaAs proposed in this paper can be looked upon as a refinement of the unified defect model (UDM) proposed in 1979 to explain Fermi level pinning on 3–5 compounds due to metals or nonmetals. The refinement lies in identifying the defect producing pinning at 0.75 and 0.5 eV above the valence band maximum as the AsGaantisite. Since the AsGaantisite is a double donor, a minority compensating acceptor is necessary. This is tentatively identified as the GaAsantisite. The concentration of As excess or deficiency due to processing or reactions at interfaces is particularly emphasized in this model. A wide range of experimental data is discussed in terms of this model and found to be in agreement with it. This includes the original data on which the UDM was based as well as more recent data including Fermi level pinning on the free-GaAs(100) molecular-beam epitaxy surface, Schottky barrier height for thick (∼ 1000 A) Ga films on GaAs, and the LaB6Schottky barrier height on GaAs(including thermal annealing effects). Of particular importance is the ability of this model to explain the changes in Schottky barrier height for Al and Au on GaAs due to thermal annealing and to relate these changes to interfacial chemistry.

Identification of AsGa antisites in plastically deformed GaAs

AsGa antisite defects formed during plastic deformation of GaAs are identified by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements. From photo‐EPR results it can be concluded that the two levels of this double donor are located near Ec −0.75 eV and Ev +0.5 eV. These values are coincident with the Fermi level pinning energies at Schottky barriers. The upper level can be related to the ’’main electron trap’’ EL2 in GaAs. Photoluminescence experiments before and after thermal annealing suggest that AsGa defects reduce the near band edge luminescence efficiency. A dislocation climb model is presented which is able to explain AsGa formation during dislocation movement. The production of AsGa antisites during dislocation motion under injection conditions in light emitting devices may thus be connected with degradation of the light output.

Effects of electron concentration on the optical absorption edge of InN

InN films with free electron concentrations ranging from mid-1017 to mid-1020 cm−3 have been studied using optical absorption, Hall effect, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The optical absorption edge covers a wide energy range from the intrinsic band gap of InN of about 0.7 to about 1.7 eV which is close to the previously accepted band gap of InN. The electron concentration dependence of the optical absorption edge energy is fully accounted for by the Burstein–Moss shift. Results of secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements indicate that O and H impurities cannot fully account for the free electron concentration in the films.

Metal content of multicrystalline silicon for solar cells and its impact on minority carrier diffusion length

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was performed to determine the transition metal content in three types of silicon material for cost-efficient solar cells: Astropower silicon-film sheet material, Baysix cast material, and edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) multicrystalline silicon ribbon. The dominant metal impurities were found to be Fe (6×1014 cm−3 to 1.5×1016 cm−3, depending on the material), Ni (up to 1.8×1015 cm−3), Co (1.7×1012 cm−3 to 9.7×1013 cm−3), Mo (6.4×1012 cm−3 to 4.6×1013 cm−3), and Cr (1.7×1012 cm−3 to 1.8×1015 cm−3). Copper was also detected (less than 2.4×1014 cm−3), but its concentration could not be accurately determined because of a very short decay time of the corresponding radioactive isotope. In all samples, the metal contamination level would be sufficient to degrade the minority carrier diffusion length to less than a micron, if all metals were in an interstitial or substitutional state. This is a much lower value than the actual measured diffusion length of these samples...

Stoichiometry‐related defects in GaAs grown by molecular‐beam epitaxy at low temperatures

GaAs layers grown by molecular‐beam epitaxy (MBE) at very low substrate temperatures have gained considerable interest as buffer layers for GaAs metal–semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFET’s) due to high resistivity and excellent device isolation. However, the structure and the electronic properties of such layers have not yet been investigated in detail. We have studied unannealed low temperature (LT) MBE layers grown at 200 °C using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), analytical TEM, x‐ray diffraction, the Hall effect, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. TEM data indicated large arsenic‐rich deviations from stoichiometry of ∼1–1.5 at. %. X‐ray rocking curves showed a uniform increase of 0.1% in all directions of lattice parameters compared to semi‐insulating GaAs substrate. The Hall effect and thermally induced changes of photo‐EPR measurements revealed the presence of an acceptor level at an energy of ∼0.3 eV above the valence band. This acceptor level has been tentativel...