Carrier recombination through donors/acceptors in heavily doped silicon

Carrier recombination in heavily doped semiconductors via shallow donor or acceptor states is analyzed. The results are in general agreement with experimental lifetime observations including the 1/n20 or 1/P20 dependence, and the insensitivity to temperature and to the dopant used. Capture cross sections of about 10−20 cm2 needed to fit the lifetime data are reasonable for neutral traps and are consistent with low-temperature capture cross sections reported for shallow dopants.