Properties and identification of the oxygen-related radiation defects in silicon

Abstract

Properties of the recently reported deep-level radiation defects in oxygen-rich silicon (the M-center in p-type Si with the DLTS levels at E v + 0.36 and E v + 0.12 eV , and the X-center in n-type Si with the level at E c - 0.11 eV , respectively) are investigated by means of DLTS and IR absorption. With a pre-irradiation heat treatment the linear correlation between the amount of oxygen dimers and the X- and M-center concentrations is established, indicating the oxygen dimer as the precursor of both radiation defects. The annihilation rates of the X- and M-centers in different charge states are measured in the temperature range of 295–350 K. The introduction rates and thermal stabilities of the M- and X-centers are found to be strongly different, which makes it difficult to correlate these levels with the same defect.