Effect of nickel contamination on grain boundary states at a direct silicon bonded (1 1 0)/(1 0 0) interface

Abstract

The effect of nickel contamination on the electrical characteristics of a (1 1 0)/(1 0 0) interfacial grain boundary in p-type direct silicon bonded wafers has been investigated by current/capacitance–voltage deconvolution. It was found that, compared with a clean grain boundary, nickel could increase the density of grain boundary states, and the corresponding hole capture cross-section was increased by one order of magnitude. Shockley–Read–Hall simulation verified that these nickel-related grain boundary states could cause a larger leakage current under reverse bias than that for a clean grain boundary.