Photonuclear transmutation doping of semiconductors

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Abstract
A new technique, photonuclear transmutation doping (PTD), which can be used to produce p-type silicon by nuclear transmutation, is presented. Aluminium acceptors are produced in silicon by photoproton and photoneutron nuclear reactions on the silicon isotope 28Si. The technique can be used to produce easily controllable uniform dopant densities. The PTD technique can also be used to dope other semiconductor materials. In an experiment, wafers of silicon were irradiated using 25 MeV bremsstrahlung on the Harwell electron linear accelerator to induce 28Si( gamma , p)27Al and 28Si( gamma , n)27Si-beta + to 27 Al transmutations. Analysis, including photoluminescence measurements, showed that electrically active aluminium acceptors were produced in the concentrations predicted.