Transport properties of silicon implanted with bismuth

The Hall effect and resistivity of Si:Bi with donor concentration varying from 3.0×${10}^{17}$ to 1.4×${10}^{20}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{-}3}$ were measured from room temperature down to 13 K. The samples were prepared by ${\mathrm{Bi}}^{+}$ implantation in Van der Pauw structures delineated in Si chips. The measured resistivities were compared with the ones calculated by a generalized Drude approach at similar temperatures and doping concentration, presenting fairly good agreement. The critical impurity concentration ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{c}}$ of the metal-nonmetal transition was measured to be around 2×${10}^{19}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{-}3}$. The critical concentration ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{c}}$ was calculated by comparing the ionization energy of the insulating phase with the total energy of the metallic phase. This value of ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{c}}$ agreed very well with the one obtained experimentally and the values estimated from other theoretical approaches.