ISSN:
1432-0630
Keywords:
78.55DS
;
61.80Jh
;
71.35 +z
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract We report on a photoluminescence study of silicon samples subjected to different dry etching processes. Several luminescence lines, known from defects produced by high-energy irradiation, manifest damage of the crystalline material. Noble gas ion beam etching (using Ne+, Ar+, Kr+, and Xe+) with ion energies as low as 400 eV produces characteristic luminescence lines which correspond to defects within a 200–300 Å thick surface layer. Incorporation of carbon during CF4 reactive ion etching produces the familiar G-line defect. The G-line photoluminescence intensity in our samples is directly correlated with the substitutional carbon concentration, as determined by infrared absorption measurements before the etch process; we therefore suggest that a simple method to determine the substitutional carbon concentration in a crystalline silicon sample is a standard dry etching process and a comparison of the resulting G-line photoluminescence intensity to a calibrated sample. The sensitivity of this method seems to be better than 1014 carbon atoms/cm3.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00616836
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