Electrical Properties of Silicon Doped with Manganese via High-Temperature Diffusion

We have studied the properties of KDB-5 silicon diffusion-doped with manganese in the temperature range 1100–1300°C. The results demonstrate that raising the diffusion temperature in the range 1175–1300°C leads to a decrease in the concentration of electrically active manganese atoms, so that at t = 1300°C their concentration becomes considerably lower than the initial boron dopant concentration. One possible reason for this is the formation of electrically neutral quasi-molecular complexes of oxygen and manganese atoms located on neighboring sites. The formation of electrically neutral complexes is accompanied by the formation of new tetrahedral cells of the Si2OMn type in the silicon lattice, which only slightly distort its periodicity but differ significantly in properties from the unit cell of silicon. They have ionic–covalent bonding and a different electron binding energy. Increasing the concentration of such tetrahedral cells can lead to the formation of their combinations, to the point of the formation of nanocrystals of a new phase, which will have its own fundamental parameters.