Transient Annealing in Sekiconductor Devices Following Pulsed Neutron Irradiation

TLDR

The study proposes a model to explain the observed transient annealing behavior in silicon devices after pulsed neutron irradiation. The model incorporates diffusion‑limited and generation‑limited kinetic processes and is validated against experimental data from silicon transistors and solar cells. Transient annealing is a bulk effect that is slower at low temperatures, with defect densities at 213 K three times higher than at 300 K, and is accelerated by minority‑carrier injection across 76–300 K.

Abstract

Transient annealing following pulsed neutron exposure has been investigated in silicon transistors and solar cells as a function of both irradiation temperature and injection level. In addition, experiments incorporating both X and gamma ray irradiation have demonstrated that transient annealing is a bulk, not a surface, effect. The observed annealing following neutron irradiation is considerably slower at low temperatures than at room temperature. At 213°K thg density of annealable defects remaining at 10-10 seconds after exposure is approximately three times that observed at this same time for a 300°K irradiation. The injection studies show that at any temperatures from 76°K to 300°K the presence of minority carrier injection considerably speeds the transient annealing processes. A model is presented which explains many of the features observed in transient annealing. Various kinetic processes are discussed in the derivation of this model, including diffusion-limited and generation-limited processes, and the results of the model are compared with experimental data.