Defect Identification in High-Purity Semiconductors

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Abstract
The elemental semiconductors silicon and germanium can be purified to electrically active impurity concentrations as low as ∼1010cm−3. Highly sensitive, energy dispersive analytical techniques have been developed to identify and measure the concentration of the residual elemental impurities. The application of these techniques to very pure materials has also resulted in the discovery of a large number of new levels which are due to impurity/defect complexes. Photothermal ionization spectroscopy using uniaxial stress or a magnetic field, electron paramagnetic resonance, and doping experiments using stable and radioactive elements have been used in combination to identify the composition and the structure of some of the new centers.