Tin Doping of Silicon for Controlling Oxygen Precipitation and Radiation Hardness

This paper reviews the impact of doping silicon with substitutional tin impurities on the formation of intrinsic and extrinsic lattice defects. The two major topics covered are ( i ) the effect on the diffusivity and aggregation/precipitation of interstitial oxygen in Czochralski (CZ) silicon and ( ii ) the formation of stable radiation defects in irradiated Sn-doped material. As demonstrated, the compressive stress associated with incorporating a large Sn atom on a lattice site is the basic feature governing the interactions with point defects. Consequently, Sn acts as a selective vacancy trap, while, in contrast, not affecting interstitial reactions. This leads to a reduced formation of oxygen thermal donors in n-type Si and lowers the concentration of vacancy-oxygen and divacancy centers in irradiated material. Enhanced oxygen precipitation has been noted around 750°C in p-type CZ silicon. Furthermore, specific Sn-related radiation defects are introduced, which question the use of doping with tin as a technique for substrate hardening. © 2001 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.