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Metastable supersaturated solutions of nitrogen in rapidly-solidified silicon
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
Abstract
The depth distribution, chemical bonding, and electrical behavior of N quenched into Si by pulsed laser-induced melting have been investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, infrared (ir) absorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrical conductivity. The results demonstrate that laser-induced melting of N-implanted layers provides access to a useful range of otherwise inaccessible conditions for the study of N in Si. Nitrogen concentrations four orders of magnitude above equilibrium solid solubility are retained in implanted layers with limited diffusion during laser-induced melt and rapid solidification. The N is incorporated predominantly as N–N pairs bonded to Si, similar to the bonding configuration for equilibrium concentrations introduced during ingot growth. Formation of SixNy clusters is suggested to explain ir absorption bands, features in TEM, and shallow donor activity observed after furnace annealing near 750 °C. These cluster effects are removed by a melt/solidification sequence which restores the N to N–N pair centers together with a small fraction of off-center substitutional N.
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