Decoupling bulk and surface recombination properties in silicon by depth-dependent carrier lifetime measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces a muon-based depth-dependent carrier lifetime measurement technique that accurately separates bulk and surface recombination properties in silicon wafers, improving upon traditional methods.

Contribution

The study presents a novel muon spin spectroscopy method for depth-resolved carrier lifetime analysis, enabling clear deconvolution of bulk and surface recombination in silicon.

Findings

Successfully measured depth-dependent carrier lifetime spectra.

Accurately distinguished bulk lifetime and surface recombination velocity.

Validated the method on passivated and unpassivated silicon wafers.

Abstract

Muons, as a bulk probe of materials, have been used to study the depth profile of charge carrier kinetics in Si wafers by scanning the muon implantation depth. The photoexcited muon spin spectroscopy technique can optically generate excess carriers in semiconductor wafers, while muons can measure the excess carrier density. As a result, carrier recombination lifetime spectra can be obtained. The depth-dependent lifetime spectra enable us to accurately measure the bulk carrier lifetime and surface recombination velocity by fitting the spectra to a simple 1-dimensional diffusion model. Unlike other traditional lifetime spectroscopy techniques, the bulk and surface recombination properties can be readily de-convoluted in this method. Here, we have applied the technique to study silicon wafers both with and without passivation treatment, and have demonstrated that the model can correctly describe the carrier kinetics in these two cases.