Reduction of Leakage Current and Minority Carrier Lifetime in Platinum-Diffused pn Diodes

We propose a novel method to control the depth profiles of platinum-related trap concentration in platinum-diffused silicon p + n diodes and to improve their electrical properties, leakage current and lifetime. Platinum has been introduced into silicon wafers and p + n diodes by one- or two-step heat treatment. The experimental results show that we can simultaneously minimize the leakage current and minority carrier lifetime, especially by the two-step heat treatment. This is the first proposal to overcome the trade-off relationship between the leakage current and lifetime. The experiment also proves that the dominant level for both the leakage current and minority carrier lifetime is a level at Ec-0.52 eV.