Identification of boron clusters and boron-interstitial clusters in silicon

Effect of boron on interstitial-related luminescence centers in silicon

“…19 Theoretical calculations of this center, called B 2 I 3 Y ͑a trigonal tri-interstitial cluster containing two boron atoms and one silicon interstitial͒, is similar in structure to the tri-interstitial cluster proposed for the W defect. 10 A comparison of the spectra in Fig. 1 clearly shows that the intensity of the PL at 1218 nm ͑W or I1͒ increases with decreasing boron concentration.…”

“…There has been speculation that the formation of a boron-related cluster namely Y-center or I2 with an emission line at 1149 nm ͑1.080 eV͒ competes with the W-center. 10 However, the effect of boron on the W-center has not yet been systematically studied. Theoretical calculations indicate that self-interstitials can be bound in immobile silicon-rich boron interstitial clusters ͑BICs͒ in the initial stages of an anneal but more stable clusters with a higher boron-to-silicon interstitial ratio of about 3:1 or 4:1 are expected after an extended anneal.…”

On a computationally efficient approach to boron-interstitial clustering

“…On the other hand, B 2 complexes were associated already long before by Newman and Smith [18,19] with absorption bands, called P-lines, that were found in boron-doped samples after electron irradiation. The observation of such absorption bands is expected only for stable defects and the association with B 2 , corroborated also by the ab-initio calculations [16,17], indicates that B 2 complexes could be stable despite the contrary conclusion from the total energy calculations.…”

“…The calibration resulted in estimates of G f B 0 2 ¼ À0:385 eV and G f B 2 I 0 ¼ 0:613 eV. The value found for B 0 2 is inasmuch remarkable as all ab-initio studies [14][15][16][17] agreed that B 2 clusters are instable, i.e. have a positive formation energy.…”

Ab initio studies of arsenic and boron related defects in silicon mesa diodes

“…Similar methods have been used in the past to study various defects in silicon, including copper, 10 interstitial carbon, 11 boron-oxygen complexes, 12 boron-vacancy complexes, 13 boron interstitial structures, 14,15 self-interstitial clusters, 16 extended self-interstitial related defects, 17 and nitrogen. 18 The structure of the AsBV defect will be considered first.…”