Characterization and modelling of the boron-oxygen defect activation in compensated n-type silicon

A study of the activation of the light-induced degradation in compensated n-type Czochralski grown silicon is presented. A kinetic model is established that verifies the existence of both the fast and the slow components known from p-type and proves the quadratic dependence of the defect generation rates of both defects on the hole concentration. The model allows for the description of lifetime degradation kinetics in compensated n-type silicon under various intensities and is in accordance with the findings for p-type silicon. We found that the final concentrations of the slow defect component in compensated n-type silicon only depend on the interstitial oxygen concentration and on neither the boron concentration nor the equilibrium electron concentration n0. The final concentrations of the fast defect component slightly increase with increasing boron concentration. The results on n-type silicon give new insight to the origin of the BO defect and question the existing models for the defect composition.