Electronic Properties Of Defects Formed In n-Si During Sputter-Etching In An Ar Plasma

Abstract

AbstractWe have employed current-voltage (IV), capacitance-voltage (CV) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) techniques to characterise the defects induced in n-Si during RF sputter-etching in an Ar plasma. The reverse leakage current, at a bias of 1 V, of the Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on the etched samples was found to decrease with etch time reaching a minimum at 6 minutes and thereafter increased. The barrier heights followed the opposite trend. The plasma processing introduced six prominent deep levels below the conduction band of the substrate. A comparison with the defects induced during high energy (MeV) alpha-particle, proton and electron irradiation of the same material revealed that plasma-etching created the VO- and VP-centres, and V2-10. Some of the remaining sputter-etching-induced (SEI) defects have tentatively been related to those formed during either 1 keV He- or Ar-ion bombardment.