The electronic and transformation characteristics of an irradiation-induced defect with metastable properties in n-type material were studied by means of deep-level transient spectroscopy. This E3 defect, with an energy level at Ec-0.37eV, captured electrons via multi-phonon emission. It could be removed by hole injection, and re-introduced by a first-order transformation during zero-bias annealing (for which the activation energy was 0.40eV) or during reverse-bias annealing (for which the activation energy was 0.53eV). It was suggested that E3 was related to a Si-impurity complex in n-type material. Due to its concentration and position in the band gap, E3 contributed significantly to particle irradiation-induced carrier removal. Because of its metastable properties, the extent of carrier removal was likely to depend upon the bias and injection conditions.

F.D.Auret, R.M.Erasmus, S.A.Goodman, W.E.Meyer: Physical Review B, 1995, 51[24], 17521-5