Temperature-dependent quasi-steady-state photoluminescence lifetime measurements for defect spectroscopy

Temperature and injection-dependent lifetime measurements of the effective excess carrier lifetime of crystalline silicon enable the determination of characteristic defect parameters like the energetic defect level and the ratio of the capture cross sections of electrons and holes. Since the effect of temperature-dependent photon reabsorption on quasi-steady-state photoluminescence lifetime measurements can be accounted for, this method is well suited to provide data for the spectroscopic analysis of defects in crystalline silicon. In contradiction to other techniques to determine the injection-dependent lifetime like photoconductance measurements, quasi-steady-state photoluminescence stands out for the robustness against parasitic artifacts like depletion region modulation and trapping, which makes it an ideal tool for the purposes of defect spectroscopy. In this work the capability and reproducibility of the determination of defect parameters of titanium contaminated crystalline silicon samples with different doping and defect concentrations will be shown and results will be presented.