Heat Treatment Centers and Bulk Currents in Silicon p-n Junctions

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Abstract
A set of small‐area, alloy, p‐n junction diodes was made from a slice of heat‐treated n‐type silicon. The carrier lifetimes of the diodes were found to be in the range of 2.5×10−8 sec to 3.5×10−6 sec. Measurements were made of the lifetime and of the current‐voltage characteristics in the forward and reverse directions as a function of temperature from room temperature to 165°C. An analysis of the results and, in particular, the correlation of current flow with lifetime values, showed that for the diodes with the shortest lifetimes, centers situated 0.48 ev at 0°K from either the conduction or valence bands were responsible for large space‐charge currents. For the diodes with lifetimes in the microsecond range, surface leakage currents were predominant. Evidence was found of a field‐dependent emission probability, β, for these centers. The results showed that β∼E0.35 when E, the electric field, is in the range of 2×104 to 8×104 v/cm.