Charge emission from interface states at silicon grain boundaries by thermal emission and thermionic-field emission—Part II: Experiment

Abstract

Comparison of the theory, developed in Part I of this paper [1], with transient capacitance experiments leads to the conclusion that the interface state energy distribution in grain boundaries is temperature dependent. This conclusion is based on experimental observations of the emission rate over a wide temperature range. One physical interpretation of this result is that contraction of the silicon material at reduced temperatures occurs primarily at the grain boundaries. A further result is that the doping concentration at grain boundaries in cast (Wacker Silso) silicon differs significantly from that in the bulk (inside the grains) of this material.