EBIC study on the electrical activity of stacking faults in silicon

The electrical activity of stacking faults associated with, oxygen precipitation in Czochralski grown silicon crystal was studied by means of electron beam induced current (EBIC) technique. Stacking fault planes parallel to the surface are found to be EBIC-active only below 100 K, while the bounding Frank partial dislocations are active up to 200 K. The stacking fault planes inclined by angles greater than 15 ° against the surface do not show any EBIC contrast even at temperatures lower than 100 K. It suggests that the stacking fault planes act as potential barriers to the carrier diffusion rather than carrier recombination centers. The barrier height of the stacking faults is estimated to be 55 meV from the temperature dependence of EBIC contrast.