Effect of Various Metal Impurities on Recombination Phenomena in Silicon

This article analyzes Shockley-Read-Hall recombination in silicon caused by metal impurities present as point defects, metal-acceptor pairs, silicide precipitates, and metal-decorated dislocations. The study is based on a systematic review covering English- and Russian-language sources published from 1952 to 2025 with DOIs or stable bibliographic records, as well as experimental results reported by researchers from Uzbekistan. Comparison of SRH parameters shows that the electron-capture cross section at Feᵢ, Vᵢ, Tiᵢ, and Moᵢ centers is substantially larger than the hole-capture cross section. Therefore, under low-injection conditions, these centers are particularly detrimental to p-type silicon. Substitutional acceptor centers such as Au have a stronger effect in n-type material. The influence of Cu, Ni, and Co depends more strongly on their precipitation and decoration of extended defects than on the concentration of dissolved atoms. The results demonstrate that, in addition to the metal species, its chemical state, spatial location, injection level, and thermal history must also be controlled.