Effect of the postimplantation-annealing temperature on the properties of silicon light-emitting diodes fabricated through boron ion implantation into n-Si

Abstract

The effect of the temperature of postimplantation annealing on the electroluminescence and the electrophysical and structural properties of light-emitting diodes fabricated by the implantation of boron ions into n-Si with a resistivity of 0.5 and 500 Ω cm is studied. All spectra contain strong electroluminescence (EL) peaks associated with band-to-band radiative transitions. An increase in the annealing temperature from 700 to 1100°C is accompanied by a monotonic increase in the quantum efficiency for the dominating EL peak and in the effective minority-carrier lifetime in the base of the light-emitting diodes and by the transformation of extended structural defects. Analysis of the experimental data shows that the extended structural defects formed are most likely to affect the EL properties via the formation or gettering of the radiative or nonradiative recombination centers rather than via preventing the removal of charge carriers to nonradiative recombination centers. The maximum internal quantum efficiency is reached after annealing at 1100°C (where extended structural defects are absent) and is estimated to be 0.4% at 300 K.