Minority carrier traps in Czochralski-grown p-type silicon crystals doped with B, Al, Ga, or In impurity atoms

Abstract

Minority carrier traps in Czochralski-grown (Cz) silicon crystals doped with either boron, aluminum, gallium, or indium impurity atoms have been investigated by means of deep-level transient spectroscopy and other junction-related techniques. The experimental data have suggested that minority carrier trapping effects in Cz-Si samples doped with different acceptor impurities are associated with complexes incorporating a substitutional group-III impurity atom and two oxygen atoms, which are found to be negative-U defects with close locations of E(-/+) occupancy level at about Eu + 0.32 eV. We have determined the energy barriers and frequency factors for the reversible transformations of the complexes between deep donor and shallow acceptor states. These parameters are discussed in relation to light-induced degradation behavior of solar cells on p-type Cz-Si crystals.