Phosphorus diffusion in polycrystalline silicon

Abstract

The diffusion of phosphorus in crystallized amorphous Si layers was studied with secondary-ion mass spectroscopy. A two-dimensional diffusion model is used to find effective grain (Dg) and grain-boundary (Dgb) diffusion coefficients. This simplified model leads to Dgb ≤ 10Dg, which is significantly lower than what has been deduced from conventional, larger grained polysilicon. Our result is consistent with specific-gravity measurements, which found a significantly lower ‘‘mass defect’’ for layers deposited amorphous and subsequently crystallized as compared to initially polycrystalline layers.