A simple procedure based on the PCD method for determination of recombination lifetime and surface recombination velocity in silicon

Abstract
A two-step method based on measurement of the decay of photoconductivity and use of chemical surface passivation has been developed to determine both recombination lifetime and surface recombination velocity of carriers in high-resistivity silicon. Lifetime up to 3-4 ms and surface recombination velocity down to 2-5 cm s-1 can be measured on samples no more than 300 mu m thick. The method can be used in a wide field of applications, especially for material characterization and process control.