Room-temperature recombination of point defects produced in silicon p-n junctions by light ion irradiation

The reverse current in a p+-n silicon junction irradiated by high-energy helium ions was measured as a function of time at room temperature. A rather large exponential decrease of the reverse current has been observed and the measured time constant is 3±0.2 days. Defect profiling by current-voltage characteristics indicates that the damage recombination occurs without long-range migration of defects. The defects responsible for the reverse current of irradiated silicon diodes after the long room-temperature aging are characterized by an energy level 0.11 eV above Si midgap.