Radiative electronic transitions associated with oxygen-induced stacking faults in silicon

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
It is well known that processing-induced defects in semiconductors can adversely affect device performance. This is particularly important for silicon, where oxidation processes can give rise to stacking faults along with other extended defects. A report is presented here of the relationship between the 'D' line dislocation-related photoluminescence (PL) lines, stacking fault length and the power of the laser employed as the excitation source. The authors have measured by PL a series of samples with different stacking fault lengths. Irrespective of stacking fault length they always observe lines D1 and D2 but no other higher-energy D lines; the intensity of the D lines increases with increased stacking fault length. The authors also find that the relative intensity of D2 to D1 depends upon the laser power employed in the PL experiment. The effect is observable in all their stacking-faulted samples and suggests that D1 and D2 are luminescence lines that originate from a related, if not the same, radiative process.
Keywords