Influence of Platinum-Hydrogen Complexes on Silicon p+/n-Diode Characteristics

Deep level impurities in p+/n silicon diodes are investigated using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). Three different deep levels are observed: two electron traps located 0.23 eV and 0.50 eV below the conduction band as well as a hole trap 0.36 eV above the valence band. The impurities are identified as platinum and platinum-hydrogen related defects. From current voltage (IV) and capacitance voltage (Cv) characteristics the generation lifetime and the saturation diffusion current are obtained. A depth profile of the Pt-H complex is calculated by using the reverse IV characteristic. All the measurements are put together in order to show that mid-bandgap traps such as Pt-H complex increase the leakage current in reverse and the non-ideality factor in forward operation.