We propose a network rebonding model for light-induced metastability in amorphous silicon, involving bonding rearrangements of silicon and hydrogen atoms. Nonradiative recombination breaks weak silicon bonds and generates dangling bond?floating bond pairs, with very low activation energies. The... (Read more)

We show that Cat-CVD silicon nitride films contain more than 1019 cm−3 nitrogen-bonded Si dangling bonds, similarly to the case for conventional CVD films. However, the charge-trapping behavior of the Cat-CVD films is found to be quite different, in spite of the same origin for the dominant... (Read more)

Electron paramagnetic resonance has been used to study the influence of thermal treatments on defect evolution in helium-implanted Czochralski single-crystal silicon. It is shown that the thermal treatment induces helium migration and capturing by vacancy clusters that transform into pressurized... (Read more)

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of S2 paramagnetic center in Float zone silicon (FZ-Si) and Czochralski silicon (CZ-Si) produced by H+2 ion-implantation and by subsequent annealing have been studied. At room temperature the spectrum exhibits an isotropic line g=2.0066±0.0002, which,... (Read more)

The interaction of atomic hydrogen with a-Si:H films was studied by means of in situ ESR during H plasma treatment. H diffuses into the a-Si:H film and creates additional Si dangling bonds (∼10¹³ cm ^-2). We observed a high diffusion coefficient (>10^-10  cm... (Read more)

The observation of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) signals directly correlated with dislocations in silicon is reported. The ODMR signals are identified as resonances from free electrons, dangling bonds, and quasifree holes bound to a one-dimensional potential in straight dislocations.... (Read more)

The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) observation of dangling bonds at the Si/SiO2 interface (Pb centers) is reported in this Communication. A luminescence quenching signal is identified as arising from the Pb center through its axially symmetry g tensor along the <1 1 1#62;... (Read more)

Electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments have been carried out at cryogenic temperatures (4.2 T 35 K) and room temperatures at 9.0 and 20.9 GHz on the Pb0 and Pb1 (commonly referred to as Pb) spin-active defects residing at the Si/SiO2 interface. The ESR lineshapes were shown to display gaussian... (Read more)

We investigated the properties of the dislocation sEPR spectra in Si in the temperature interval from 1.3 to 150ºK. At helium temperatures we observed anomalies in the behavior of the dispersion signals χ' under conditions of adiabatic rapid passage (APR) through resonance. It is shown that the spectrum of the D centers has a hyperfine (hf) structure, with a line width ∆H_i ～0.2－0.3 Oe (the distance between neighboring hf lines is of the order of their width). It is established that under ARP conditions excitations are transferred between the hf lines as a result of spin-spin interactions with a characteristic time τ₃, equal to 3－10 sec in the range 1.3－4.2ºK and weakly dependent on the temperature and on the microwave power. We measured the dependence of the integrated intensity of the absorption signals χ'' on the temperature in the 20－150ºK range. A strong deviation from the Curie low was observed at T=40－50ºK. The temperature dependence of the quantity τ₁τ₂ was measured in the same temperature range, under the assumption that the hf lines have a Lorentz shape. An anomaly at T=40－50ºK was observed also on the plot of τ₁τ₂=f(1/T). It is concluded that a magnetic phase transition takes place in the D-center system at 40－50ºK, and consequently the dislocations in Si can be regarded as models of one-demensional chain of spins with exchange interactions.

EPR measurements have been made on aligned cleavage faces of Si, prepared and studied in high vacuum (<10^-9 Torr). The signal, observable after accumulation, is a single line at g=2.0055 with width 6 G, similar to that from vacuum-crushed powders. It is unaffected by oxygen exposures... (Read more)