Electrophysical properties of silicon doped with iron and nickel

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of iron contamination in silicon (Si) on its electrical properties, specifically resistivity (ρ) and charge carrier concentration (n). Iron is known to introduce various defects in Si, and understanding its influence is crucial for semiconductor applications. The authors used single-crystal silicon samples doped with phosphorus and deposited nickel and iron layers on the sample surface. The simultaneous diffusion of these atoms into silicon was performed at high temperatures. At low temperatures (100-120 K), both initial silicon (n-Si) and rapidly cooled n-Si<Ni,Fe> samples showed similar resistivity values, with slight increases in the n-Si<Ni,Fe> samples. As the temperature increased from 120 K to 320 K, the resistivity values in both sample types exhibited different trends. In the n-Si sample, resistivity increased, reaching 0.37 Ω∙cm, while in the n-Si<Ni,Fe> samples, resistivity increased to 0.404 Ω∙cm.