Thermal emission rates and activation energies of electrons and holes at silver centers in silicon

The thermal emission rates of electrons and holes of silver-doped silicon are measured by the dark current and the dark and photo capacitance transient techniques. The wider range of the present data (nine orders of magnitude) provides a more accurate determination of the thermal activation energies and the Arrhenius constants. Data fitted to et = A exp ( – ΔE/kT) give: (i) donor center: ΔE = ED – Ev = (405 ± 2) meV and A = (5.16 ± 0.55) × 1013 s−1 and (ii) acceptor center: ΔE = EC – EA = (593 ± 2) meV and A = (1.32 ± 0.11) × 1013 s−1.