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Nuclear Methods to Study Defects and Impurities in Si Materials

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Defects and Impurities in Silicon Materials

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 916))

Abstract

The hyperfine interaction between the atomic nucleus and its surrounding charge and electromagnetic field distribution is extremely sensitive to the atomic and electronic configuration of this atom. In the field of defects and impurities in semiconductors, the study of their hyperfine interaction can therefore contribute substantially to their identification and characterization. The introduction of radioactive isotopes as impurity atoms allows to probe the hyperfine interaction of extremely low quantities of such impurities. Several dedicated nuclear methods such as Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Perturbed Angular Correlations and Low Temperature Nuclear Orientation allow to measure the hyperfine interaction at the nuclear site of the impurity atom by analysing the radiation emitted by these probe nuclei. The Emission Channelling technique, on the other hand, allows studying the precise lattice site location of the probe atoms from the channelling behaviour of the particles emitted by these probe nuclei.

In the first part of this chapter we will describe the basic principles of these nuclear methods and illustrate them with a few relevant examples.

In the second part of this chapter we will focus on a series of recent Mössbauer spectroscopy studies which have been set up to study 57Fe solute atoms in Si wafers and solar cells under special conditions such as under applied voltage and external illumination. Finally, we will describe the basic principles of a Mössbauer microscope, allowing to map the presence of Fe across a Si wafer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium

    Guido Langouche

  2. Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology, Fukuroi, Japan

    Yutaka Yoshida

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  1. Guido Langouche
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  2. Yutaka Yoshida
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Correspondence to Yutaka Yoshida .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology, Fukuroi, Japan

    Yutaka Yoshida

  2. Nuclear solid state physics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium

    Guido Langouche

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Langouche, G., Yoshida, Y. (2015). Nuclear Methods to Study Defects and Impurities in Si Materials. In: Yoshida, Y., Langouche, G. (eds) Defects and Impurities in Silicon Materials. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 916. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55800-2_8

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