Experimental studies of size-related effects in silicon nanocrystals are reported. We present investigations carried out on nanocrystals prepared from single-crystal Si:P wafer by ball milling. The average final grain dimension varied depending on the way of preparation in the range between 70 and... (Read more)

The velocity v of dislocation half-loops introduced into swirl-free floating-zone grown undoped silicon has been measured at 420°C in the resolved shear stress range 30 <τ<300 MPa. Clearly impurity atoms interact with dislocations in this material. Using the starting value of v we found the two types of 60° dislocations, which are distinguished by the sequence of their partials, to have different velocities. Furtheron the velocity depends not only on τ, but also on the elastic strain of the lattice. In the second part the papers review EPR spectroscopy of plastically deformed silicon and collects new results on the activity of dislocations in this material as trapping / recombination centers (decay of photo-EPR, photoluminescence, EBIC microscopy and photoplastic effect). (Read more)