Solid state diffusion of antimony in germanium, from the vapour phase, in a vacuum furnace

Abstract

The diffusion of antimony into germanium in a two zone vacuum furnace has been investigated by a 4-point probe technique. Graphs are given of the variation of the antimony concentration on the surface of the germanium with temperature and time, also that of the depth of the diffused p- n junction. Simple analyses of the antimony concentration profiles with surface concentrations below 1 × 10 18 atoms cm −3 gave a diffusion constant D 0 of 507 cm 2 sec −1 with an activation energy of 2·8 eV. Further analyses on accurately determined profiles, show anomalous behaviour of the diffusion below 5 × 10 17 atoms cm −3.