Electrical properties of thermal donors formed in silicon under elastic tensile stress

The electrical properties of thermal donors formed in the bulk and near-surface regions in silicon samples with (3–9) × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ oxygen concentrations under elastic tensile stress σ of about 1 GPa have been studied. The original method allowing us to control an introduced elastic tensile stress during the thermal donor’s formation at T = 450°C by a double-crystal X-ray diffractometer has been used. The formation of thermal donors in silicon with a high oxygen concentration of 9.3 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ under tensile stress has been found to be less effective than in silicon with a low oxygen concentration of (3–5) × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. Single-charged donors are formed in silicon with a low oxygen concentration under tensile stress while double-charged donors are formed in silicon with a high oxygen concentration.     

The effect of thermal treatment on the charge-carrier lifetime in nickel-doped silicon

This work is aimed at studying the electrophysical and recombination properties of slowly and rapidly cooled n-and p-type silicon doped by nickel during thermal treatment. It is shown that the changes in the lifetime in slowly and rapidly cooled n-Si<P, Ni> under isochronous thermal treatment depend on the “nickel + trace impurity” complexes. An increase in the lifetime observed in p-Si<B, Ni> as compared with the reference silicon is caused by the presence of a carrier-capture level. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 57–61, February, 2006.     

Modification of porous silicon in ultrahigh vacuum and contribution of graphite nanocrystallites to photoluminescence

A replacement of the adsorbate in porous silicon is carried out in ultra-high vacuum. The photoluminescence line is shifted and quenched as the products of anodization of silicon — silicon hydrides and atomic and molecular hydrogen — undergo thermal decomposition and desorption. Adsorption of molecular chlorine restores the 560 nm photoluminescence band, which we identified as radiation from graphite nanoparticles. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 2, 106–111 (25 January 1996)     

Photoinduced self-limited low-temperature growth of ultra-thin silicon-oxide films with water vapor

The growth of ultra-thin (<2 nm) silicon-oxide films was investigated on Si(100):H, Si(111):H, and a-Si:H surfaces in a pure water atmosphere (0.1–10 Pa) at low temperatures of 30–250 °C. Oxidation was induced photochemically by pulsed F₂-laser radiation at 157 nm. The thickness and composition of the growing oxide films were monitored in real time by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the photon energy range of 1.15–4.75 eV. The mechanism of laser-induced silicon oxidation in a H₂O atmosphere is shown to differ fundamentally from the classical Deal–Grove mechanism of thermal oxidation at 900–1200 °C, as well as from the photoinduced low-temperature oxidation in an O₂ atmosphere. In particular, the film thickness essentially does not depend on temperature below 250 °C. A kinetic model is developed for low-temperature silicon oxidation in a H₂O atmosphere. According to this model, the growth is limited at small thicknesses by the oxidation reaction and at larger thicknesses by reactions of the diffusing oxidizing species in the oxide layer. Very good agreement is established between this kinetic model and the ellipsometric measurements and the temperature and pressure dependence of the water oxidation process. PACS 82.65.+r; 07.60.Fs; 81.65.Mq; 82.50.Hp     

Phase transitions in erbium-doped silicon exposed to laser radiation

The dynamics of phase transitions induced by nanopulsed ruby laser radiation (80 nsec, 2 J/cm²) both in silicon layers doped with erbium ions and in those containing doped erbium and oxygen have been studied by an optical probing method. It is shown that the reflectivity behavior of structures under pulsed irradiation is governed by phase transitions (melting and crystallization) of implanted silicon and also by interference effects at the interfaces of the resulting phases. It is established that the profiles of erbium distribution change under nanosecond laser irradiation and that the dopant is forced out to the surface due to a segregation effect at small implantation doses. As the implanatation dose increases, diffusion deep into the sample tends to prevail over segregation. A considerable increase in the photoluminescence peak intensity at 0.81 eV is found after both the pulsed laser processing and thermal post-annealing of doped samples as opposed to spectra of samples subjected either to thermal annealing or to pulsed laser irradiation. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 225–231, March–April, 2009.     

Optical properties of silicon-silicide nanoheterostructures grown by consecutive plasma-epitaxy synthesis

Consecutive plasma-epitaxial synthesis on silicon wafers is used for the first time to fabricate monolithic nanoheterostructures with embedded nanocrystals (NC) of chromium disilicide (Si–NC CrSi₂–Si). It is found that, initially, nanoislands form on the surface and within a coating layer of silicon, followed by the formation of small (10–15 nm) nanocrystals of semiconducting chromium disilicide (CrSi₂) at a high occupation density ((2–3)⋅10¹¹ cm^–2). During formation of silicon-silicide-silicon heterostructures, CrSi₂ nanocrystallites “float up” into the near surface area of the covering silicon layer.     

Longitudinal conductivity of Ge/Si heterostructures with quantum dots

The conductance along an island layer of Ge quantum dots buried in silicon was investigated. The sizes of the islands varied in the range D ≈ 12−19 nm. It was found that the charge transport is characterized by two activation energies. The first one is associated with the thermal emission of holes from Ge quantum wells into the valence band of Si. The second one is due to the tunneling of holes between islands under Coulomb blockade conditions and is determined by the electrostatic charging energy of a quantum dot. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 6, 423–426 (25 March 1996)     

Phosphorus distribution profiles in 100-silicon using a spin-on source at low temperatures

 Incorporation of phosphorus into silicon from a spin-on dopant layer (SOD) at 400 ^°C is described. Annealing experiments were carried out with SOD films deposited on (100) silicon substrates by using the spin-on technique. Conventional heating on a hotplate in normal atmosphere and a temperature range up to 400 ^°C was used to study the dopant incorporation. After removing the SOD-films one part of the silicon substrates was annealed at higher temperatures. Investigations were carried out by SIMS, SAM, XPS, HTEM, stripping Hall and Van der Pauw measurements before and after the high temperature annealing. Chemical phosphorus concentration profiles obtained from low temperature annealed samples showed diffusion depths of 60–80 nm (extrapolated to a substrate doping level of 10¹⁶ cm^-3) and surface concentrations of 10¹⁹–10²⁰ cm^-3. Electron concentration profiles exhibiting maximum values around 2⋅10¹⁹ cm^-3 could be measured on high temperature annealed samples only. Received: 28 March 1996/Accepted: 19 August 1996     

Evaluation of thermal conductivity of porous silicon layers by a photoacoustic method

 The paper shows that it is possible to evaluate the thermal conductivity of porous silicon layers by a conventional photoacoustic gas-microphone technique, on the basis of a simple interpretative model for stratified samples. Samples produced by electrochemical etching of crystalline wafers of different type and thickness are considered. The frequency variation of photoacoustic signal, in amplitude and phase, is studied and interpreted by means of a four-layers (air, porous silicon, crystalline silicon, air) model. Thermal conductivity values in the range 2.5–31.2 W/m K are obtained. Received: 4 July 1996/Accepted: 13 August 1996     

A study of kinetic effects in isotropic polycrystalline <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-type silicon

A formula is derived for calculating the relaxation time of charge carriers scattered both by a disordered atomic lattice of polycrystalline silicon and by a system of disordered potential barriers formed on the surfaces of crystallites in isotropic polycrystalline silicon. The hole relaxation time is analyzed, and the temperature dependence of hole mobility is calculated for the p-type polycrystalline silicon. The calculations of the Hall factor, differential thermal emf, transverse magnetoresistance, and coefficients of elastoconductivity due to hole scattering by the disordered atomic lattice and by the potential barriers formed on the crystallite surfaces in isotropic polycrystalline p-type silicon are also made. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 76–88, February, 2008.     

Long-range influence of weak optical irradiation of silicon

We report a new effect, observed experimentally in silicon under irradiation with visible-range light with a power density of 0.2–1.5 W/cm² for 8 s. The effect consists in an increase of microhardness on the side opposite to the irradiated side and is not purely thermal in character. After irradiation, the changes decrease exponentially with time with an activation energy of 0.75±0.05 eV, a value which is characteristic for the migration and reorientation of one of the types of intrinsic interstitial atoms. A qualitative explanation is given for the effect on the basis of a model previously proposed for the case of long-range influence of ion irradiation. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 6, 381–385 (25 September 1999)     

Formation of SERS-active silver structures on the surface of mesoporous silicon

We have optimized the procedure for preparation of nanostructured silver films on the surface of mesoporous silicon (PSi) to use them as active substrates in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The greatest enhancement of the SERS signal was observed for samples obtained when the silver was deposited on PSi from an aqueous AgNO₃ solution with concentration 1⋅10^–2 M over a 10–15 minute period. The detection limit for rhodamine 6G on SERS-active substrates prepared by the optimized procedure was 1⋅10^–10 M. The enhancement factor for the SERS signal on these surfaces was estimated as ≈2⋅10⁸. We have shown that SERS-active substrates based on mesoporous silicon are promising for detection and study of complex organic compounds, in particular tetrapyrrole molecules. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 298–306, March–April, 2009.     

A novel morphology of SiOx nanowires with a modified diameter

A novel morphology of SiO_x (x=1–2) nanowires was fabricated via a thermal evaporation method by heating pure silicon powder at 1373 K followed by depositing silicon vapor on a quartz-glass substrate which was coated with a catalyst precursor from a 0.005 M Fe(NO₃)₃ aqueous solution. At the deposition temperature, the catalyst particles aggregated and formed quasi-plates, from which a short Si rod grew outward on one side and a great deal of SiO_x nanowires projected outward on the other side, forming comet-like objects with long tails. The diameters of the nanowires gradually decreased with an increase in the distance from the catalyst plate. Received: 9 April 2001 / Accepted: 17 October 2001 / Published online: 23 January 2002     

Photoacoustic spectroscopy of diamond powders and polycrystalline films

Photoacoustic spectroscopy is used to study optical absorption in diamond powders and polycrystalline films. The photoacoustic spectra of diamond powders with crystallite sizes in the range from ∼100 μm to 4 nm and diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) had a number of general characteristic features corresponding to the fundamental absorption edge for light with photon energies exceeding the width of the diamond band gap (∼5.4 eV) and to absorption in the visible and infrared by crystal-structure defects and the presence of non-diamond carbon. For samples of thin (∼10 μm) diamond films on silicon, the photoacoustic spectra revealed peculiarities associated with absorption in the silicon substrate of light transmitted by the diamond film. The shape of the spectral dependence of the amplitude of the photoacoustic signal in the ultraviolet indicates considerable scattering of light specularly reflected from the randomly distributed faces of the diamond crystallites both in the polycrystalline films and in the powders. The dependence of the shape of the photoacoustic spectra on the light modulation frequency allows one to estimate the thermal conductivity of the diamond films, which turns out to be significantly lower than the thermal conductivity of single-crystal diamond. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1787–1791 (October 1997)     

Paramagnetic properties of single-crystal silicon implanted with iron-group transition metals

Samples of single-crystal silicon implanted with iron-group ions are investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The change in relative permittivity μ_r of the silicon layer modified by implanted nickel ions is found. The accumulation kinetics of paramagnetic centers of amorphous regions of silicon implanted with Co, Ni, and Fe are shown to be different. Magnetic hysteresis for both the wide EPR line due to implanted impurities and the EPR line due to dangling chemical silicon bonds is found. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 197–201, March–April, 2008.     

X-ray luminescence of disperse SiO2 and porous silicon

We carry out a comparison between the luminescence spectra (photo-and x-ray luminescence) of porous silicon and disperse SiO₂, which by its physical characteristics is most similar to oxide films on porous silicon. The photoluminescence of porous silicon was also investigated using fluorescence (excitation by a nitrogen laser) and metallographic microscopes. We found that the natures of the luminescence centers of porous silicon and disperse SiO₂ are identical. A porous layer on single-crystal silicon ensures the creation of a highly branched surface of oxide film. Luminescence centers are located on its inner (as viewed from the porous silicon) surface. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 247–251, March–April, 1998.     

Luminescence of an erbium- and ytterbium-containing complex in porous silicon films

Er³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions are introduced into porous silicon films, stabilized by oxidation in an oxygen plasma, in the form of a gadolinium oxychloride-based luminophor by means of thermal diffusion. An investigation is made of the luminescence and photoexcitation spectra of samples with Er³⁺ (10 and 30 wt.%), Yb³⁺ (10 wt.%), and Er³, Yb³⁺⁺ (10 wt.% each). It is shown that the intense IR luminescence (1.00 and 1.54 μm) is caused by cross-relaxation effects. The most effective excitation of the luminescence has been observed in the UV absorption band of the porous silicon. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 428–433, May–June, 1999.     

Heat treatment-induced bond layer diffusion and re-crystallization in copper carbon interface systems measured by modulated IR radiometry

Copper-carbon interface systems with additional Mo bond layers in the range of 25 nm to 200 nm have been analyzed with respect to their effective thermal depth profiles before and after heat treatment using modulated IR radiometry. Comparing the inverse calibrated modulated IR phase lags before and after heat treatment, several effects can be identified: – (1) The effusivity of the interface layer, which – due the contact resistance between the two elements copper and carbon – is rather low before heat treatment, increases considerably with heat treatment. – (2) This effect is accompanied by an increase of the thermal diffusion time of the interface layer, relying on the diffusion of Mo and Cu particles. – (3) The sputter-deposited copper films, which before heat treatment can be characterized as effective multi-layer structures, re-crystallize with heat treatment and show modulated IR phases, which are characteristic for thermally homogeneous thin films. – (4) The thermal diffusion times of the Cu films decrease considerably with heat treatment due to increased thermal diffusivities, and – (5) the thermal effusivities of the Cu films increase with heat treatment.