Studies of divacancy in Si using positron lifetime measurement

Abstract

The charge state dependence of positron lifetime and trapping at divacancy (V2) in Si doped with phosphorus or boron has been studied after 15 McV electron irradiation up to a fluence of 8.0×1017 e/cm2. The positron trapping cross sections for V 2 2− , V 2 − and V 2 0 at 300 K were about 6×10−14, 3×10−14 and 0.1–3×10−14 cm2, respectively. For V 2 + , however, no positron trapping was observed. The marked difference in the cross sections comes from Coulomb interaction between the positron and the charged divacancy. The trapping rates for V 2 0 and V 2 2− have been found to increase with decreasing temperature in the temperature range of 10–300 K. These results are well interpreted by a two-stage trapping model having shallow levels with energy of 9 meV (V 2 0 ) and 21 meV (V 2 2− ). The appearance of a shallow level for V 2 0 can not be explained by a conventional “Rydberg state” model. The lifetime (290–300 ps) in V 2 0 is nearly constant in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K, while that in V 2 2− increases from 260 ps at 10 K to 320 ps at 300 K. The lifetime (260 ps) in V 2 2− is shorter than that in V 2 0 at low temperature, which is due to the excess electron density in V 2 2− . At high temperature, however, the longer lifetime of V 2 2− than that of V 2 0 is attributed to lattice relaxation around V 2 2− .