Generation-annealing kinetics and atomic models of a compensating donor in the surface space charge layer of oxidized silicon

Experimental evidence of the generation of a shallow bulk donor center in the surface space-charge layer of oxidized silicon by exposure to a high dose of 10-keV electron is first summarized. An extensive new study of the generation and annealing kinetics of a similar bulk donor in p-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors subjected to as much as 20 C/cm2 avalanche electron injection is then reported. The generation kinetics from 180 to 298 K is first order with a constant total donor concentration of about 1×1017 cm−3 which is independent of both injection temperature and voltage, and a generation cross section given by 8.6×10−18 exp(−113 meV/kT) cm2, which increases with injection voltage. Rapid annealing begins at 50 °C following a second-order kinetics from 50 °C to 150 °C with an annealing rate given by 4.2×10−7 exp(−1.07 eV/kT) cm3/sec. Analyses of the results suggest that a bulk oxygen donor is the origin, and the bimolecular annealing kinetics involves hydrogen bonding of the oxygen donor dangling bonds.