The presence of boron in silicon was shown to have a deleterious effect on the luminescence of interstitial-related centres, particularly the W-centre which was often observed after ion implantation and a low temperature anneal. Competition between silicon-interstitial and boron-interstitial centre formation was considered to be a possible mechanism underlying this dramatic reduction. Previous work on silicon implantation of boron-doped substrates was extended to examine the effect of B implantation itself on W-centre formation. W centres formed via the implantation of B and a low temperature anneal and via a Si implant over an activated B-implant profile followed by low temperature anneal were compared. These studies contrast the effects of boron and silicon implantation and examine the effect of overlapping implantation profiles. Studying the effect of boron on optical centre formation provided insight into defect interactions in silicon and new data for theoretical modelling.

Effect of Boron on Formation of Interstitial-Related Luminescence Centres in Ion Implanted Silicon. J.C.McCallum, B.J.Villis, B.C.Johnson, N.Stavrias, J.E.Burgess, S.Charnvanichborikarn, J.Wong-Leung, J.S.Williams, C.Jagadish: Physica Status Solidi A, 2011, 208[3], 620–3