Electron irradiation induced defects in germanium-doped Czochralski silicon substrates and diodes

Ge doping in Czochralski silicon (Cz‐Si) crystal has been proposed as a successful application of the so‐called “impurity engineering” leading to improved properties of Si wafers and/or devices. In an attempt to understand the beneficial effect of Ge doping on irradiation hardness for actual devices, substrates and p‐on‐n diodes, both with and without Ge doping, were exposed to electron irradiation and characterized using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). Our results suggest a concentration of 1019 cm–3 Ge doping has only a limited effect on the total density of vacancy related deep levels in silicon (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)