Surface recombination in semiconductors

Abstract The surface recombination and generation process in silicon and germanium is studied theoretically and experimentally. The theory for a uniform distribution of surface recombination-generation centers is given in a form which is applicable both to the non-equilibrium MOS method employed in the case of thermally oxidized silicon and to the photoconductive-decay method traditionally employed for etched germanium surfaces. Results of this theory are compared with measurements in thermally oxidized silicon structures and with previously published data relating to etched germanium surfaces. It is shown that the two surface systems are quite similar, and that the surface recombination and generation process in both systems can be adequately characterized by assuming that the recombination-generation centers are uniformly distributed in energy in the central region of the forbidden gap.

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