Thermal treatments of Czochralski-grown Si at 450, 600 and 650C, under a high hydrostatic pressure of 11kbar, introduce thermal donors and various structural defects, as for example O precipitates. Neutron irradiation of such samples resulted first in the formation of O–vacancy complexes, mostly VO defects. Upon annealing, the VO defects evolve in larger clusters via the accumulation of O atoms and vacancies in the initial VO core, leading to the formation of VmOn defects. Attention was focussed upon the study of the effect of pre-treatments upon the production and evolution of the various VmOn defects during isochronal annealing. The observed changes and variations in the infra-red spectra and the evolution curves as compared with the corresponding ones of an initially untreated sample were considered. The most important finding was that the concentrations of the VO2 and the VO3 defects were reduced in samples pre-treated at 450C; an indication of interactions between thermal donors and radiation-induced defects.

Production and Evolution of Defects in Neutron-Irradiated Si Subjected to Thermal Pre-Treatments under Hydrostatic Pressure. C.A.Londos, G.J.Antonaras, M.S.Potsidi, A.Misiuk, I.V.Antonova, V.V.Emtsev: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2005, 17[22], S2341-9