Evidence of Lattice Relaxation in Platinum-Doped Silicon

Abstract

AbstractThe photoionization cross section of the platinum-acceptor level in silicon was measured (in relative units) as a function of photon energy. Capacitance transients due to electron emission from this level were studied in a p+n gated photodiode at temperatures of 40, 60, and 80 K. Measurements were made over the wavelength range of 2 to 5 μm with light from a prism monochromator with a constant bandpass of 10 meV. The platinum density in the diode was about 1014 cm−3, providing a ratio of deep to shallow (phosphorus) levels of about 0.1. The data are in good agreement with the Ridley-Amato lattice-coupling model when a Huang-Rhys parameter of S = 0.3 is used, corresponding to a Frank-Condon shift of 15 meV if an average phonon energy of 50 meV is assumed. The electronic energy of the acceptor level was 226 ± 5 meV below the conduction band, independent of temperature and in agreement with previous studies of thermal ionization. The present results provide the first clear experimental evidence of lattice relaxation associated with a deep level in silicon. However, the observed Huang-Rhys parameter is smaller than the theoretical estimates of Lowther (S ≅ 1), suggesting that multiphonon emission may not be the only mechanism for carrier recombination involving this level.