Electrical Properties of Dislocations and Boundaries in Semiconductors

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Simple models have been suggested to predict electronic properties of lattice defects in semiconductor crystals: dislocations ought to act via the acceptor character of dangling bonds, and small-angle grain boundaries ought to consist of regular arrays of dislocations. The actual situation in most semiconductors is, however, much more complicated. The observed electrical effects of dislocations do not confirm the dangling-bond concept, they are affected by dissociation and reconstruction. There appear to be differences between straight and kinked dislocations. Dislocations owe much of their electronic behavior to clouds and precipitates of impurities; oxygen in silicon plays a significant role. This review summarizes the present status of experimental methods and results, including luminescence and capacitance spectroscopy as well as mapping and imaging techniques using electron-microscopes.