Model of defect reactions and the influence of clustering in pulse-neutron-irradiated Si

Abstract

Transient reactions among irradiation defects, dopants, impurities, and carriers in pulse-neutron-irradiated Si were modeled taking into account the clustering of the primal defects in recoil cascades. Continuum equations describing the diffusion, field drift, and reactions of relevant species were numerically solved for a submicrometer spherical volume, within which the starting radial distributions of defects could be varied in accord with the degree of clustering. The radial profiles corresponding to neutron irradiation were chosen through pair-correlation-function analysis of vacancy and interstitial distributions obtained from the binary-collision code MARLOWE, using a spectrum of primary recoil energies computed for a fast-burst fission reactor. Model predictions of transient behavior were compared with a variety of experimental results from irradiated bulk Si, solar cells, and bipolar-junction transistors. The influence of defect clustering during neutron bombardment was further distinguished through contrast with electron irradiation, where the primal point defects are more uniformly dispersed.