Low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy were used to investigate the origin of radiative recombination from various extended defects that evolved during the high-temperature processing of ion-implanted epitaxial Si. Photoluminescence studies of N2-annealed samples provide spectroscopic evidence for the precipitation of implanted impurities well below the solid-solubility limit. This result was supported by secondary ion mass spectrometry observations, and spreading resistance profiling of the implanted ions. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopic analyses of these samples revealed (111)-oriented precipitates which were located in a region that contained a high dislocation density. Post-implantation annealing in O resulted in the formation of dislocations and oxidation-induced stacking faults. A systematic analysis of photoluminescence spectra from various implanted and pre-annealed samples, together with transmission electron microscopic and optical microscopic analyses, revealed that the commonly observed dislocation-related D1 and D2 photoluminescence lines were not a characteristic of oxidation-induced stacking faults, but of dislocations alone. It was shown that the oxidation-induced stacking faults acted as non-radiative channels for luminescence in Si.

Photoluminescence and Structural Studies of Extended Defect Evolution during High-Temperature Processing of Ion-Implanted Epitaxial Silicon. P.K.Giri, S.Coffa, V.Raineri, V.Privitera, G.Galvagno, A.La Ferla, E.Rimini: Journal of Applied Physics, 2001, 89[8], 4310-7