New approach to the analysis of thermally stimulated conductivity measurements applied to zinc-compensated silicon

An extensive analysis of thermally stimulated conductivity (TSC) measurements in zinc-compensated silicon samples has been carried out in order to obtain information about their trapping structure. The measurements were analyzed with the help of available TSC techniques, augmented by four newly developed concepts, which are based on the influence of the following effects on TSC spectra: (i) illumination intensity, (ii) recombination lifetime, (iii) trap filling mechanism, and (iv) resistivity inhomogeneity. The usefulness and importance of the above-mentioned concepts as well as of other older techniques are discussed in a manner that is applicable to the general analysis of TSC and thermoluminescence data. The detailed analysis of ordinary as well as of decayed TSC measurements, performed on serveral n-type zinc-compensated silicon samples containing approximately 10¹⁶{cm}^{{-}3}$ of arsenic and having room-temperature resistivities between 3 and 150 k{Ω}cm, indicate the existence of five discrete traps located approximately 0.1, 0.14, 0.19, 0.41, and 0.36 eV from the edge of the conduction band. The first four levels all empty by fast retrapping mechanisms whereas the last is a slow trap. It is thus demonstrated that the use of our additional techniques for the analysis of TSC measurements even in seemingly complicated situations such as zinc in silicon, yields a much clearer picture on the trapping structure in materials than was previously possible.