Electrical Properties of Silicon Doped with Manganese via High-Temperature Diffusion

Abstract—

We have studied the properties of KDB-5 silicon diffusion-doped with manganese in the temperature range 1100–1300°C. The results demonstrate that raising the diffusion temperature in the range 1175–1300°C leads to a decrease in the concentration of electrically active manganese atoms, so that at t = 1300°C their concentration becomes considerably lower than the initial boron dopant concentration. One possible reason for this is the formation of electrically neutral quasi-molecular complexes of oxygen and manganese atoms located on neighboring sites. The formation of electrically neutral complexes is accompanied by the formation of new tetrahedral cells of the Si₂OMn type in the silicon lattice, which only slightly distort its periodicity but differ significantly in properties from the unit cell of silicon. They have ionic–covalent bonding and a different electron binding energy. Increasing the concentration of such tetrahedral cells can lead to the formation of their combinations, to the point of the formation of nanocrystals of a new phase, which will have its own fundamental parameters.