On Majority Carrier Sweep‐Out by Trapped Space Charge in Gold‐Doped Silicon

Abstract

AbstractAfter pulsed majority carrier injection into gold‐doped p‐type Si, a decrease in conductivity occurs, which is caused by sweep‐out of free thermal carriers in the electric field of the trapped injected space charge. The step‐like recovery of conductivity (carrier concentration) is observed after a time comparable with the thermal release time of the traps. The dependence of depletion time on injection voltage or injected space charge was determined at various temperatures. The temperature dependence of injection voltages for zero depletion time reveals two regions in which different mechanisms of recovery are dominant. The results are in good agreement with a simple theory and values for the donor level of Au in Si ED = 0.315 eV and the cross section for holes \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ S_{\rm p} = \frac{1}{g}2.5 \times 10^{ - 14} \,{\rm cm}^2 $\end{document} can be derived.