EBIC Study of Electrical Activity of Stacking Faults in Multicrystalline Sheet Silicon

Abstract

The electrical activity of stacking faults (SFs) in multicrystalline sheet silicon has been examined by correlating EBIC(electron beam induced current), preferential defect etching, and microwave photo-conductance decay (PCD) lifetime measurements. Following a three hour 1060 0C annealing the interstitial oxygen concentration decreased from 14 to 4.5 x 1017 cm-3, during which time a high density of SFs were generated in the center of individual large grains. Subsequent EBIC contrast variation within individual large grains was correlated with the local SF density revealed by preferential etching. In addition, a more quantitative intra-grain lifetime was obtained from high spatial resolution PCD measurements. It was found that an SF density of 1 to 2 x 106 cm-2 produces a lifetime limitation in sheet silicon which corresponds to a recombination lifetime of ~2 µs.