Surface recombination velocity measurements at the silicon–silicon dioxide interface by microwave-detected photoconductance decay

Abstract
This article presents measurements of the effective surface recombination velocity S eff at the Si–SiO2 interface of thermally oxidizedp‐type silicon wafers as a function of carrier injection level. The experiments cover a large range of injection levels and substrate resistivities, using the ‘‘microwave‐detected photoconductance decay’’ method. A minimum in S eff has been observed experimentally. The experimental results for S eff are compared with calculations based on an extended Shockley–Read–Hall formalism which includes surface band bending effects due to oxide charges.