Rapid thermal annealing of neutron transmutation doped silicon

The application of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) technique (for defect removing and dopant activation) to homogeneously doped silicon irradiated by thermal neutrons has been investigated. By means of the process 30Si(n, γ)31Si → 31P+β- p-type silicon is compensated and transformed into high resistivity n-type silicon of about 10 kΩcm. Results show that the use of RTA for the annealing of neutron transmutation doped Si leads to an enhancement of the minority carrier lifetime and to an enhanced activation of phosphorus compared to the results of furnace annealing