Interaction between oxygen and dislocations in p-type silicon

The interaction between dislocations and impurities in silicon has been the subject of many studies over several years; nevertheless, many questions mainly relevant to the electronic states of complex defects containing impurities and dislocations are still unclear. In oxygen precipitated and plastically deformed p-type silicon deep levels were detected by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The comparison between differently treated samples allowed us to clarify the influence of oxygen on the defective states. One of the most prominent DLTS peaks usually observed in plastically deformed silicon was found to change substantially as a function of O precipitation. In particular, O precipitation increased the thermal stability of the peak, and also changed the capture and emission processes at the deep level.