Surface passivation effect of silicon substrates due to quinhydrone/ethanol treatment

A new technique of surface passivation of silicon substrates by quinhydrone /ethanol treatment has been investigated. To estimate the surface passivati on effect, the lifetimes of the silicon substrates were measured using the microwave photoconductive decay method. The measured lifetimes were depende nt on quinhydrone concentration and passivation time. The 0.01 mol/dm(3) qu inhydrone/ethanol treatment showed a good passivation effect, and a very lo w surface recombination velocity was obtained. The quinhydrone/ethanol trea tment was a more effective passivation technique than the iodine/ethanol tr eatment. Therefore, the quinhydrone/ethanol passivation can be widely used for lifetime measurement.