Pressure effects on the diffusion of boron and phosphorus in silicon

Abstract

In this work, pressure effects on the diffusion of boron and phosphorus in silicon have been investigated by using the statistical moment method. We consider the diffusion of boron and phosphorus in silicon for wide temperature and pressure ranges revealing the Arrhenius behavior of diffusion coefficients. Activation energies of diffusion of boron and phosphorus in silicon are derived, respectively, as 3.41 and 3.20 eV at ambient pressure. Our work shows that when pressure increases, the diffusivity of B is enhanced characterized by an activation volume of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the atomic volume) at temperature 1083 K; and the diffusivity of P is reduced indicated by an activation volume of [Formula: see text] at 1113 K. Our results of activation energies and diffusion coefficients are in agreement with recent experimental measurements and ab initio calculations. This work proposes a potential method to investigate the diffusion mechanism in silicon solar cell.