Reassessing iron–gallium recombination activity in silicon

In this work, we present a comprehensive re-evaluation of the iron–gallium (FeGa) recombination parameters in silicon using injection-dependent lifetime spectroscopy (IDLS). Ga-doped silicon wafers (of varying resistivities) with precise concentrations of intentional iron contamination in the silicon wafer bulk, through ion implantation and distribution, were used. The presence of interstitial Fei and FeGa, and their lifetime-limiting effects in these silicon wafers, were confirmed through measuring the effective minority carrier lifetime changes during the conditions that are known to cause FeGa dissociation and association. The presence of Fe was also confirmed by deep-level transient spectroscopy. To ensure accurate IDLS analysis of the FeGa defect in silicon, a lifetime linearization scheme was employed to effectively filter out interference by other defects. Error analysis was employed to find the combination of defect parameters that best fit the experimental data and to ascertain the range of uncertainty associated with the IDLS best-fit results. The optimal fitting of the experimental IDLS by Shockley–Read–Hall statistics produced an electron capture cross section σn=2.3×10−14cm2, hole capture cross section σp=1.1×10−14cm2, and a trap energy level Et=EV+0.2−0.01+0.02eV for the FeGa defect in silicon. The extracted defect parameters are also verified by experimentally measuring the crossover point of Fei and FeGa lifetime curves.