Review—Carrier Lifetime Spectroscopy for Defect Characterization in Semiconductor Materials and Devices

Abstract

A review on applications of the contact-less carrier inspection techniques for characterization of various materials is presented, based on recording of the microwave probed photo-conductivity (MW-PC) and free carrier infrared absorption (IR-FCA) transients. Comparison of characteristics measured by these techniques with data obtained by alternative methods is discussed. The models and principles of carrier lifetime description are briefly analyzed. Instrumentation and schemes for implementation of the MW-PC and IR-FCA techniques are presented. Applications of carrier lifetime measurements for material and defect characterization on different structures are illustrated.

Spectroscopy of defects in neutron irradiated ammono-thermal GaN by combining photoionization, photoluminescence and positron annihilation techniques

“…A few results on neutron-irradiated AT GaN materials and the spectral data of the prevailing defects have been reported in our previous publications [32,33]. In this work, the evolution of the PPI [34] spectra with neutron fluence in a range of 10 12 -5 × 10 16 n/cm 2 has been studied in more detail. The pulsed response is recorded using microwave probed photoconductivity transients (MW-PC).…”

Influence of Divacancy-Oxygen Defects on Recombination Properties of n-Si Subjected to Irradiation and Subsequent Annealing

“…where is the isochronous annealing time, [V 2 ] irr the concentration of divacancies after the irradiation, and [V 2 O] the total concentration of V 2 O complexes, which is the sum of their concentrations in the singly and doubly charged negative states, because the Fermi level in our specimens is located above the V 2 O(-/0) level at room temperature. Figure 7 demonstrates the experimental dependences Δ −1 ( ann ) obtained for 60 Co -irradiated Cz -Si : P (panels , , and ) and -Si : TD (panels and ) specimens together with their description, by using expressions (5) and (2) with the fitting parameters of VO and V 2 O defects quoted in Tables 2 and 3. The concentration of V 2 O complexes was calculated with the help of expression (7).…”

“…That is why the application of radiation-induced defects as the centers of charge carrier recombination forms the basis of radiation-technological methods for the fabrication of power silicon-based devices. In general, the parameter in silicon is sensitive to the presence of various defects, which makes it a powerful tool to study the defect properties of this material and to control its quality [5]. In this work, our attention is focused on the influence of divacancy-oxygen (V 2 O) defects on the recombination properties of -Si.…”

Jan Vanhellemont – 35 years of materials research in microelectronics

“…This led to a set of data which turned out to be very useful for present-day Ge-based device simulations. In one of his last co-authored papers, a thorough description of lifetime spectroscopy and its application to a wide range of semiconductor materials, from wide-gap (diamond, GaN) to narrow-gap (Ge) has been given [25]. Besides as-grown Ge materials, metaldoped samples have also been studied, among others enabling the detection of the 0.33 eV Co acceptor level in ntype Ge [24,25].…”

“…In one of his last co-authored papers, a thorough description of lifetime spectroscopy and its application to a wide range of semiconductor materials, from wide-gap (diamond, GaN) to narrow-gap (Ge) has been given [25]. Besides as-grown Ge materials, metaldoped samples have also been studied, among others enabling the detection of the 0.33 eV Co acceptor level in ntype Ge [24,25]. The study of metal-doped Ge and the fact that the equilibrium solid solubility of transition metals in Ge is much higher than in silicon, for the same temperature, has triggered Jan to deposit a patent application on the use of sacrificial Ge layers for metal gettering purposes in silicon processing [26].…”