Precipitation of Cu and Ni in n- and p-type Czochralski-grown silicon characterized by photoluminescence imaging

Abstract

Photoluminescence (PL) images and micro-PL maps were taken on Cu- or Ni-doped monocrystalline silicon wafers, to investigate the distribution of the metal precipitates. Several n-type and p-type wafers were used in which Cu or Ni were introduced in the starting melt of the ingots and precipitated during the ingot cooling (as opposed to surface contamination). The micro-PL mapping allowed investigation of the metal precipitates with a higher spatial resolution. Markedly different precipitation patterns were observed in n- and p-type samples: in both Cu- and Ni-doped n-type samples, circular central regions and edge regions were observed. In these regions, particles were distributed randomly and homogeneously. In the p-type Cu-doped and Ni-doped samples, by contrast, the precipitates occurred in lines along <110> orientations. The difference in the precipitation behaviour in n- and p-type samples is conjectured to be caused by different concentrations of self-interstitials and vacancies remaining in the crystal during the ingot cooling: there are more vacancies in the n-type ingots but more interstitials in the p-type ingots. The dopant effects on the intrinsic point defect concentrations in silicon crystals and possible precipitation mechanisms are discussed based on the findings in this work and the literature.