Accurate measurement of extremely low surface recombination velocities on charged, oxidized silicon surfaces using a simple metal-oxide-semiconductor structure

W. E. Jellett*, K. J. Weber

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The authors report a simple technique to determine the surface recombination velocity of silicon and other semiconductor surfaces which have been passivated with a dielectric layer, as a function of charge density. A metal-oxide-semiconductor structure, employing large area, partially transparent metal contacts, is used to enable the charging of the surfaces. Simultaneous measurement of the emitter saturation current density Joe and the effective instantaneous lifetime τinst allows accurate extraction of the effective surface recombination velocity Seff at any given injection level. Extremely low Joe values of 1.8 fA cm-2 are measured on the silicon-silicon oxide (Si-Si O2) interface of a thermally oxidized, charged wafer.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number042104
    JournalApplied Physics Letters
    Volume90
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Accurate measurement of extremely low surface recombination velocities on charged, oxidized silicon surfaces using a simple metal-oxide-semiconductor structure'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this