Electrically active centers formed in silicon during the high-temperature diffusion of boron and aluminum

The parameters of electrically active centers formed during the high-temperature diffusion of boron and aluminum into silicon in various media are studied by the Hall method and capacitance spectroscopy. It is found that the variation in the resistivity of the n base of the structures with p-n junctions fabricated in the study is controlled by the formation of three donor levels Q1, E4, and Q3 with the energies Ec - 0.31, Ec - 0.27, and Ec - 0.16 eV. Diffusion in a chlorine-containing atmosphere introduces only a single level E4, but its concentration is 2.5 times lower, compared with diffusion in air. The values of the ionization energy of the Q3 level, measured under equilibrium (Hall effect) and nonequilibrium (capacitance spectroscopy) conditions, almost coincide. The deepest level E1 with an energy of Ec - 0.54 eV, formed upon diffusion in both media, has no effect on the resistivity in the n base of the structures.