Minority and majority carrier traps associated with oxidation induced stacking faults in silicon

Abstract

Majority and minority traps associated with oxidation induced stacking faults (OISFs) have been investigated by deep level transient spectroscopy and minority carrier transient spectroscopy. Electron and hole traps have been characterised in nand p type Si, and the activation energies of all extended defect related traps are found to be dependent on the occupancy of the state associated with the extended defect. Majority and minority carrier traps in n type Si exhibit non-exponential trap filling, which indicates the presence of a significant electrostatic barrier around the OISF. The electrical properties of hole (minority) traps measured by minority carrier transient spectroscopy in n type Si are found to be different from the deep level transient spectroscopy signature of hole (majority) traps in p type Si, and this is explained by examining differences between conditions during the measurements. By examining separately the electron and hole capture properties of OISF related traps, one particular trap can be identified as a recombination centre. The capture cross-section of the OISF related hole trap in n type Si has been measured and it was found that, at low occupancy, the trap capture cross-section is 7 × 10^-14 cm².