RECOMBINATION CENTERS IDENTIFICATION IN VERY THIN SILICON EPITAXIAL LAYERS VIA LIFETIME MEASUREMENTS

A new test structure for the recombination lifetime profile measuremen t has been designed and applied, for the first time, to characterize v ery thin(4 mu m) silicon epitaxial layers, The results of our analysis have shown how the lifetime behavior, at room temperature, is clearly position dependent its value being influenced by different recombinat ion centers, Moreover, two distinct recombination centers have been id entified, the first one related to the dopant (arsenic in our case) an d the second one induced by the process steps required to realize the test structure itself.