Characterization of iron in silicon by low-temperature photoluminescence and deep-level transient spectroscopy

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 2018-03, Vol.123 (10)
• Main Authors: Nakamura, Minoru, Murakami, Susumu, Udono, Haruhiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5019958

We investigate the relationship between the intensity of band-edge (BDE) photoluminescence (PL) from 10 to 70 K and the concentration of iron diffused in boron-doped p-type silicon. Because of the nonradiative recombination activity of the interstitial iron-boron complex (FeiB center), the BDE-PL intensity at each temperature varies distinctively and systematically with the iron concentration, which means that this method has the potential to make the accurate measurements of a wide range of interstitial iron concentrations in silicon. The iron precipitates formed in the bulk and/or at the surface are found to exert much weaker recombination activity for excess carriers than FeiB center by exploiting both PL and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. The unexpected enhancement in BDE-PL intensity from iron-diffused silicon between 20 and 50 K is attributed to the passivation of the Si-oxide/Si interface by iron. For the samples diffused with trace amounts of iron, the iron concentration within 20 μm of the surface is significantly greater than that in the bulk, as measured by DLTS. This result is tentatively attributed to the affinity of iron with the Si-oxide.