Structural Elements of Shallow Thermal Donors Formed in Nitrogen-Gas-Doped Silicon Crystals

Abstract

It has been reported that shallow thermal donors (STDs) are formed in oxygen-rich silicon (Si) crystals preannealed in nitrogen gas (N-gas-doped) and also in hydrogen-doped (H-doped) oxygen-rich Si crystals. The STDs formed in these crystals exhibit very similar electronic structures. Experiments using far-infrared optical absorption showed that several hydrogen-like STDs were formed at the same time and their energy levels in both the above-mentioned crystals were very similar. It has also been reported that the g-values of the STDs formed in both the crystals were identical. On the basis of electron–nucleus double resonance results, it has been strongly suggested that a hydrogen impurity is incorporated as a structural element of the STDs formed in the H-doped Si crystals. However, the origin of the STDs that are formed in N-gas-doped Si crystals is still unclear. To clarify this point, hydrogen detection in N-gas-doped Si was conducted and the annealing behaviors of STDs in N-gas-doped Si and H-doped Si were compared by electron spin resonance and far-infrared optical absorption measurement. It was concluded that the origin of the STDs formed in N-gas-doped Si crystals is not related to the hydrogen impurity.