SIMULATION OF PULSE-HEIGHT SPECTRA IN ION-BEAM-INDUCED CHARGE MICROSCOPY OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON

This article describes computer simulations of the charge pulse height spectra that are obtained by irradiating selected regions of a polycr ystalline silicon solar cell by a 2 MeV He+ microbeam. The spectra are calculated in terms of the energy loss function of the ions and the d istribution of the charge collection probability at a grain boundary, and illustrate the effect of the interface recombination velocity of t he grain boundary and the bulk diffusion length. The simulations are c ompared with some experimental spectra to demonstrate the applicabilit y of the theory. The method can be extended to the analysis of other s emiconductor defects or more complex devices. (C) 1997 American Instit ute of Physics.