Atomic structure of grain boundaries in semiconductors

Abstract
This paper summarizes the electron microscope observations (high resolution, diffraction and α-fringes) on germanium bicrystals. Observed structures were found isomorphous to those of silicon. They tend to form a 2D-periodic medium with eventually additional linear defects. In pure tilt grain boundaries the tetrahedral coordination is always restored by dangling bond reconstruction. The electrical activity of such grain boundaries can therefore only be due to point defects (intrinsic defects or impurities)