Deep levels in high-energy proton-irradiated tin-doped n-type Czochralski silicon

Abstract

A deep level transient spectroscopy study of defects created by 61 MeV proton irradiation of tin-doped n-type Czochralski silicon is reported. A comparison is made with the deep levels observed in irradiated p–n junction diodes fabricated in n-type float-zone silicon, without tin doping. The main conclusions are that in Sn-doped material, at least two additional deep radiation centers are introduced at 0.29±0.01 and 0.61±0.02 eV below the conduction band. From annealing experiments, it is concluded that these electron traps dissociate below 120 °C, which is lower than observed before for Sn–V related levels. It is demonstrated that the introduction rates of the well-known radiation defects are significantly smaller in Sn-doped material.

Oxygen defect processes in silicon and silicon germanium

“…[129][130][131][132] In recent studies, it was shown that Sn doping can impact the diffusion and formation of A-centers in Si. 23,113 Critical in this aspect is the formation of SnVO clusters, which are very bound and less mobile than the VO.…”

“…144 It deserves noting that Pb in Si does not introduce, to the best of our knowledge, any levels from radiationinduced defects in the forbidden gap in comparison with Sn. 129,133 These levels in Sn-doped Si may act as recombination centers deteriorating the performance of solar cells. In this respect, the absence of such levels in Pd-doped Si is an advantage in comparison to Sn-doped Si.…”

Tin doping effect on crystallization of amorphous silicon obtained by vapor deposition in vacuum

“…Since Sn does not create energy levels in Si band gap (E g ), tin doping does not affect electrical, optical and recombination properties of Si crystals. At the same time, Sn atoms available in Si significantly slow down the degradation of these characteristics caused by heating [4][5][6] and radiation [6][7][8]. The first reports about crystallization of Si a  films doped by Sn from the gaseous phase in the process of film formation were made in [9].…”

Toward Defect Engineering Strategies to Optimize Energy and Electronic Materials

“…Sn is an isovalent dopant that is considerably larger than Si, so it can strongly bind with vacancies and thus it can influence the vacancy-related defects and the generation rate of interstitial-related defects [42][43][44][45]. It was previously determined that Sn doping and in particular high concentration Sn doping will significantly impact the formation and diffusion of A-centers in Si (refer to Figure 5) [39][40][41]46].…”