A deep level transient spectroscopy characterization of defects induced in epitaxially grown n-Si by low-energy He-ion bombardment

Abstract

Epitaxially grown n-Si was bombarded with low-energy (1 keV) He ions. Deep level transient spectroscopy revealed that this introduced four prominent defects with energy levels at 0.14, 0.20, 0.30, and 0.55 eV, respectively, below the conduction band. The electronic properties and annealing behavior of these defects are different to those of the main defects, namely, divacancies (V2) and vacancy-phosphorous centers, observed after 5.4 MeV He-ion bombardment of the same material. We propose that, except for the defect with an energy level at Ec−0.14 eV, the defects introduced by 1 keV He-ion bombardment of n-Si may be related to: (1) vacancy clusters larger than divacancies, or (2) incorporation of He and H into V2 or higher-order vacancy clusters.