Interaction of copper atoms with radiation-induced defects in silicon

Abstract

The annealing behavior of radiation-induced defects in Czochralski-grown n-type Si crystals doped with copper via high-temperature (600 and 650°) indiffusion has been studied using Hall effect measurements and deep level transient spectroscopy. The results indicate that radiation-induced vacancy-type defects (divacancies V2 and vacancy-oxygen complexes VO) are effective traps for copper atoms. The inter- action of Cu with VO and V2 reduces their annealing temperature and leads to the formation of electrically active centers at Ec − 0.60 eV and Ec − 0.17 eV, which are assumed to be Cu-VO and Cu-V2 complexes. The enhanced annealing of the radiation-induced vacancy-type defects in Si〈Cu〉 is due to the fact that these defects capture Cu interstitials released from neutral Cu-containing associates at temperatures above 150°C.