Impact of oxygen on the permanent deactivation of boron-oxygen-related recombination centers in crystalline silicon

The carrier lifetime in boron-doped Czochralski-grown silicon is ultimately limited by light-induced boron-oxygen-related recombination centers. These centers can be permanently deactivated by illumination at elevated temperature (70-220 degrees C). However, the detailed defect reactions leading to permanent deactivation are still unresolved. In this work, we study the impact of oxygen on the deactivation process. We examine the dependence of the deactivation rate on the interstitial oxygen concentration as well as the impact of long-term annealing at 450 degrees C, leading to the generation of oxygen clusters acting as donors (thermal donors). We find a decrease in the deactivation rate with both increasing interstitial oxygen concentration and increasing thermal donor concentration, suggesting that oxygen is involved in the deactivation process. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3431359]