Identification of the LeTID defect formation as a hydrogen-related dissociation process

Abstract

We investigate possible correlations between the temporal evolution of Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation (LeTID) and of boron-hydrogen pairs. For this, samples were treated under dark annealing conditions at 160°C and the formation and annihilation of the LeTID defect and the formation of BH-pairs were studied simultaneously. Simulations were used to accompany the experiment. A linear correlation between the formation of the LeTID defect formation with the BH-pair formation was found, while no correlation was found for the annihilation of the LeTID defect and the degradation of surface passivation with the reactions revolving around BH-pairs. This correlation can be explained by assuming the LeTID defect formation to be a hydrogen-related dissociation process: Hydrogen dissociates from the LeTID precursor, binds to boron and the remains of the LeTID precursor are a recombination active defect responsible for LeTID. This assumption leads to a good agreement between simulation and experimental results.