Point defect engineering strategies to suppress A-center formation in silicon

Journal Article · Mon Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3666226· OSTI ID:22027843

Chroneos, A ^[1]; Londos, C A; Sgourou, E N ^[2]; Pochet, P ^[3]

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1. Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
2. Solid State Physics Section, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografos, Athens 157 84 (Greece)
3. Laboratoire de Simulation Atomistique (L-Sim), SP2M, INAC, CEA-UJF, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)

We investigate the impact of tin doping on the formation of vacancy-oxygen pairs (VO or A-centers) and their conversion to VO{sub 2} clusters in electron-irradiated silicon. The experimental results are consistent with previous reports that Sn doping suppresses the formation of the A-center. We introduce a model to account for the observed differences under both Sn-poor and Sn-rich doping conditions. Using density functional theory calculations, we propose point defect engineering strategies to reduce the concentration of the deleterious A-centers in silicon. We predict that doping with lead, zirconium, or hafnium will lead to the suppression of the A-centers.

• OSTI ID: 22027843
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
A CENTERS
CRYSTALS
DENSITY FUNCTIONAL METHOD
ELECTRON BEAMS
HAFNIUM
IRRADIATION
LEAD
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON
TIN
VANADIUM OXIDES
ZIRCONIUM