Solid Solubilities of Impurity Elements in Germanium and Silicon*

Abstract

The available data on solid solubilities of impurity elements in germanium and silicon are summarized in the form of solidus or solvus curves. New solubility data are presented for the lead‐germanium, zinc‐germanium, indium‐germanium, antimony‐silicon, gallium‐silicon and aluminum‐silicon systems. The correlation of the solid solubilities with the heats of sublimation and the atom sizes of the impurity elements is considered.

Modeling of Thermodynamic Properties and Phase Equilibria of the Si-P System

“…The values reported by Trumbore [35] and Kooi [36] are in mutual satisfactory agreement, but they are about a factor of two higher than other, essentially later published values. [37][38][39][40] Nobili et al [39] pointed out that Trumbore's data [35] may not be reliable, because the approximation and error function involved in the calculation of the surface concentration is surely not justified, which was also pointed out by Mackintosh [42] himself in a later work considering the actual shape of the profile.…”

“…Extensive investigation has been carried out on [P] (Si) , the solubility of P in the solid (Si) phase. [35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Trumbore [35] referred to unpublished results of MacKintosh obtained by sheet resistance and junction depth measurements. Kooi [36] using neutron activation analysis investigated the diffusion behavior of phosphorus in silicon, and obtained [P] (Si) in the temperature range between 920 and 1310°C.…”

“…[37][38][39][40] Nobili et al [39] pointed out that Trumbore's data [35] may not be reliable, because the approximation and error function involved in the calculation of the surface concentration is surely not justified, which was also pointed out by Mackintosh [42] himself in a later work considering the actual shape of the profile. Nobili et al [39] also claimed that Kooi's data were questionable because their work was related to a Si-P-O ternary system rather than Si-SiP binary equilibrium.…”

Retrograde Melting and Internal Liquid Gettering in Silicon

“…Finally, we suspect these processes to have a wider applicability beyond the 3d transition metals in silicon. Analysis of impurity solubility data [ 13 ] and phase diagrams [ 11 ] for various systems (as demonstrated in Figure 1 ), reveals that similar phenomena may occur in other systems, such as germanium and silicon doped with high concentrations of noble metals. These metal impurity-semiconductor reactions may lead to new opportunities to engineer high-performance materials and devices on the nanometer scale.…”

“…Due to the high enthalpy of formation of point defects in certain semiconductors, the solid solubility of an impurity within the crystal structure increases with temperature, reaching a maximum well above the eutectic temperature. Many dissolved elements in silicon demonstrate this property, [ 13 ] including many of the 3d transition metals such as iron, copper, and nickel. [ 14 ] It is hypothesized that retrograde solubility can lead to retrograde melting, [ 5 ] if supersaturation occurs at a temperature above the eutectic temperature (as demonstrated in Figure 1 a ).…”