Electronic properties of the metastable defect in boron-doped Czochralski silicon: Unambiguous determination by advanced lifetime spectroscopy

By combining data from temperature- and injection-dependent lifetime spectroscopy (TDLS and IDLS) measured by means of the microwave-detected photoconductance decay technique and the quasi-steady state photoconductance technique, respectively, the exact electronic structure of the metastable defect in standard boron-doped Czochralski (Cz) silicon has been determined. A detailed Shockley–Read–Hall analysis of the entire TDLS curve reveals that the Cz-specific defect acts as an attractive Coulomb center [σn(T)=σn0T−2] which is localized in the upper band-gap half at EC−Et=0.41 eV and has an electron/hole capture cross section ratio k=σn/σp=9.3. The accuracy of this determination manifests itself by the fact that the corresponding IDLS curve can be simulated with the same parameter set.