Department of Electrical and

Electronics Engineering

BITS Pilani Dr. Satyendra Kumar Mourya,

Pilani Campus
Assistant Professor
Defects & Impurities

“Human beings &

semiconductors are
interesting because
of their defects”*
*
Peter Y. Yu
U.C.-Berkeley

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• A primary reason that

Semiconductors are helpful for devices:

The electronic (& other) properties can be
significantly altered by incorporating impurities (&
other defects) into the material.
• There are “good” impurities (& defects) & “bad” ones!

Good Impurities: Useful for device operation.

Bad Impurities: Can make devices useless!

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Semiconductors, Dielectrics, Metals

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Semiconductors, Dielectrics, Metals

Advantage of Semiconductors:
Their electrical properties can
be “easily changed” by adding
impurities
 Dopants

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Semiconductors, Dielectrics, Metals

Advantage of Semiconductors:
Their electrical properties can be
“easily changed” by adding
impurities
 Dopants

Disadvantage of
Semiconductors:
Their electrical properties can be
“easily changed” by adding
impurities
 Contaminants

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Example: Impurities in Silicon

Very useful impurities!!

p-type dopants: B, Al, Ga, In
“Shallow” Impurity
n-type dopants: P, As, Sb
Levels

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Example: Impurities in Silicon

Very useful impurities!!

“Shallow” Impurity p-type dopants: B, Al, Ga, In
Levels n-type dopants: P, As, Sb

Benign impurities. Oxygen, Carbon

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Example: Impurities in Silicon

Very useful impurities!! p-type dopants: B, Al, Ga, In

“Shallow” Impurity n-type dopants: P, As, Sb
Levels

Benign impurities. Oxygen, Carbon

Potentially dangerous
Slowly diffusing & rare
impurities!! “Deep”
metals
Impurity Levels
La, Y, Zr, Hf, Ta, ...

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Example: Impurities in Silicon

Very useful impurities!!

“Shallow” Impurity p-type dopants: B, Al, Ga, In
Levels n-type dopants: P, As, Sb

Benign impurities. Oxygen, Carbon

Potentially dangerous Slowly diffusing & rare metals

impurities!! “Deep” La, Y, Zr, Hf, Ta, ...
Impurity Levels

Very dangerous for devices!!

Fe, Cu, Ni
“Deep” Impurity
Cr, Mn, Au,..
Levels

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 Industrial Data (~ 5 years ago): The integrated circuit
industry consumes ~> 10,000 tons of Si per year!!
Laboratory Data on Si: 10 mg of Fe is sufficient to
contaminate this amount of silicon to the level of 1011 cm-3

~10,000
tons!!
~ 10 mg

A Practical
Question:
•With such possibilities of contamination, how can a high
purity of Si wafers be maintained in the process of
manufacturing of integrated circuits?
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Example: Degradation of MOS
Devices by Metal Precipitates

Local Thinning of
the Oxide

Trap-Assisted
Tunneling

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Example: Degradation of MOS
Devices by Metal Precipitates

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Effect of Iron (Fe) Contamination
on MOS Devices

Threshold Iron
Concentration

Fe contamination
isn’t the only problem!

•Contamination of Si (& other materials) by

most other metal atoms is also dangerous!!

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There are at least two solutions to the problem of how
to keep metal contamination low in semiconductors

1. Ultra-Clean Technology

Growth Technology

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There are at least two solutions to the problem of how
to keep metal contamination low in semiconductors

1. Ultra-Clean Technology

Growth Technology

2. “Defect Engineering”

Physics!!

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There are at least two solutions to the problem of how
to keep metal contamination low in semiconductors

1. Ultra-Clean Technology

Growth Technology
•Metals are dangerous only if they
2. “Defect Engineering” are in the device-active region. If
metals can be removed from the
devices, & localized in pre-defined
Physics!! regions of the wafer, or if they can be
passivated, they won’t affect device
yield. However, defects can be
“engineered” only if we know a lot
about their physics.
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Ultra-Clean Technology

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 NOTE!
• Altering the electronic properties of a semiconductor
only requires a VERY SMALL absolute impurity
concentration:
(NI/NH) ~  10-6
(NI = # impurity atoms, NH = # host atoms)
• Also, impurities & defects CAN produce energy
levels in the fundamental bandgap of the perfect
crystal.

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Effect of Various
Substitutional
Impurities on the
Resistivity of Si

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Some Measured Impurity Levels in the
Fundamental Band Gap of Ge

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Some Measured Impurity Levels in the
Fundamental Band Gap of Ge

Shallow Donor
Levels

Shallow Acceptor
Levels

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Some Measured Impurity Levels in the
Fundamental Band Gap of Ge

“Deep” Levels
Shallow Donor
Levels

Shallow Acceptor
Levels

“Deep” Levels

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Some Measured Impurity Levels in the
Fundamental Band Gap of Si & GaAs

Shallow
Donor “Deep”
Levels Levels
Shallow
Acceptor
Levels
Shallow
Donor “Deep”
Levels Levels

Shallow
Acceptor
Levels

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Some Measured Impurity Levels in the
Fundamental Band Gap of GaAs

•This shows that the measured energy in the band gap for an
impurity may “depend on the measurement technique”!
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Defects & Impurities

• From the data, impurity & defect levels in

semiconductor band gaps are diverse, varied, &
complicated, even for “simple” substitutional
impurities!
• In addition to impurity levels, there can also be
bandgap levels due to complex defects.
• It is now known that the bandgap levels can be
understood as being
“Signatures”
of defects & impurities.

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Classification of Defects & Impurities
Classification by Level Depth
• One obvious way to classify impurities & defects is
by their level “depth” in the bandgap.
“Shallow” Impurities

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Classification of Defects & Impurities
Classification by Level Depth
• One obvious way to classify impurities & defects is
by their level “depth” in the bandgap.
“Shallow” Impurities
• These produce band gap levels near the conduction
or valence band edges.
• These can be accurately calculated by Effective
Mass Theory (“Effective Hydrogen Atom
Theory”). We’ll describe this theory in some detail.

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Classification of Defects & Impurities
Classification by Level Depth
• One obvious way to classify impurities & defects is
by their level “depth” in the bandgap.
“Shallow” Impurities
• These produce band gap levels near the conduction
or valence band edges.
• These can be accurately calculated by Effective
Mass Theory (“Effective Hydrogen Atom
Theory”). We’ll describe this theory in some detail.
“Deep” Impurities/Defects
• All others. We’ll describe a theory of these in detail.

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 Classification by Spatial Extent
• Another way to classify impurities/defects is by the
spatial extent of their potential & their wave
function.

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 Classification by Spatial Extent
• Another way to classify impurities/defects is by the
spatial extent of their potential & their wave
function.
Point Defects
• These are isolated atoms or small groups of atoms
(complexes). This kind is all that we’ll discuss here.
• Point defects can be either good or bad for the
material, depending on the material & the defect.

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 Classification by Spatial Extent
• Another way to classify impurities/defects is by the
spatial extent of their potential & their wave function.
Point Defects
• These are isolated atoms or small groups of atoms
(complexes). This kind is all that we’ll discuss here.
• Point defects can be either good or bad for the material,
depending on the material & the defect.
Line Defects
• These are defects in which rows or planes of atoms are
involved (such as dislocations). These are usually bad
for the material. We won’t discuss these here.
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Defects

Defect Types

Point One dimensional Area Dislocation Volume

Schottky /Dislocations Twin Dislocation
Screw
Interstitial Grain
Frenkel Edge Boundary

33
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Types of Point Defects & Impurities

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities

• Vacancy: A missing atom at a lattice site.

– The symbol is VA for a missing atom of type A.

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities

• Vacancy: A missing atom at a lattice site.

– The symbol is VA for a missing atom of type A.
• Interstitial: An atom in between lattice sites.
– It is possible to have a self-interstitial.
– The symbol is IA for an atom of type A at an interstitial
site.

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities

• Vacancy: A missing atom at a lattice site.

– The symbol is VA for a missing atom of type A.
• Interstitial: An atom in between lattice sites.
– It is possible to have a self-interstitial.
– The symbol is IA for an atom of type A at an interstitial
site.
• Substitutional Impurity: An impurity atom C replacing a
host atom A.
– The symbol is CA for an atom of type C replacing an
atom of type A.

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities

• Vacancy: A missing atom at a lattice site.

– The symbol is VA for a missing atom of type A.
• Interstitial: An atom in between lattice sites.
– It is possible to have a self-interstitial.
– The symbol is IA for an atom of type A at an interstitial
site.
• Substitutional Impurity: An impurity atom C replacing a
host atom A.
– The symbol is CA for an atom of type C replacing an atom
of type A.
• Antisite Defect: Compounds only. Host atom B occupying a
site that should have had host atom A on it.
– The symbol is BA for an atom of type B on an A site.
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1. Point Defects

Ideal Crystal Schottky Defect

Interstitial Frankel Defect

39
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Types of Point Defects & Impurities
• Complexes: Combinations of some point defects.
– For example, a vacancy - interstitial pair: VA-IA
Other Classifications

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities
• Complexes: Combinations of some point defects.
– For example, a vacancy - interstitial pair: VA-IA
Other Classifications
• Intrinsic or Native Defects: No matter what the growth
process is, these cannot be completely eliminated.
– Examples: Vacancies, Antisite Defects, Self-interstitials.

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Types of Point Defects & Impurities
• Complexes: Combinations of some point defects.
– For example, a vacancy - interstitial pair: VA-IA
Other Classifications
• Intrinsic or Native Defects: No matter what the growth
process is, these cannot be completely eliminated.
– Examples: Vacancies, Antisite Defects, Self-interstitials.
• Extrinsic Defects: Impurities or impurity complexes of some
sort.

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Point Defects & Impurities
• Our main interest in this discussion will be
Electrically Active Defects

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Point Defects & Impurities
• Our main interest in this discussion will be
Electrically Active Defects
• Donors: Contribute electrons to the host material.

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Point Defects & Impurities
• Our main interest in this discussion will be
Electrically Active Defects
• Donors: Contribute electrons to the host material.
• Acceptors: Accept electrons from the host.
Or donate Holes to the host.

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Point Defects & Impurities
• Our main interest in this discussion will be
Electrically Active Defects
• Donors: Contribute electrons to the host material.
• Acceptors: Accept electrons from the host.
Or donate Holes to the host.
• Isoelectronic Impurities: Are substitutional impurities from
the same column of the periodic table as the host atom being
replaced.

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Consider Si (or any column IV atom material)

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 Consider Si (or any column IV atom material)
Some Single Donor Impurities:
• These are impurities from column V of the periodic table
(P, As, …)

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 Consider Si (or any column IV atom material)
Some Single Donor Impurities:
• These are impurities from column V of the periodic table
(P, As, …)
Some Single Acceptor Impurities:
• These are impurities from column III of the periodic
table (B, Al, Ga, ..)

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 Consider Si (or any column IV atom material)
Some Single Donor Impurities:
• These are impurities from column V of the periodic table
(P, As, …)
Some Single Acceptor Impurities:
• These are impurities from column III of the periodic
table (B, Al, Ga, ..)
• There are also Double Donors or Double Acceptors, etc.
which donate or accept two electrons.

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Line Defects

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• A line defect is also called dislocation.

• A dislocation is a Crystallographic defect or

irregularity, within a crystal structure.

• The presence of dislocations strongly influences many

of the properties of materials. The theory was
originally developed by Vito Volterra in 1905.

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Types Of Dislocation

• Edge Dislocation

• Screw Dislocation

• Mixed dislocation

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Edge Dislocation

• An edge dislocation is a defect where an extra half-plane

of atoms is introduced mid way through the crystal.

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 Edge Dislocation

• It distort nearby planes of

atoms. When enough force is
applied from one side of the
crystal structure.
• The extra half plane will
break its existing bonds and
form new bonds with its
neighbor opposite of the
dislocation motion.

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This is a line defect called an
EDGE DISLOCATION

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 Edge Dislocation

• The figure shows shear force is applied on its upper and

lower surfaces.
• Consequently an extra half plane is introduced.
• Due to this extra half plane the crystal is badly distorted.

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Screw Dislocation

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 Screw Dislocation

• The motion of a screw dislocation is also a result of shear

stress.
• Motion is perpendicular to direction of stress, rather than
parallel (edge).
• Term Screw for such defect is derived from the fact that
lattice planes of the crystal spiral the dislocation line.

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 C ONTD….

• The upper front portion in the following figure has been

sheared by one atomic distance to the right relative to the
lower front portion.

• In figure t represents the dislocation line.

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t

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C ONTD….

• If circuit is clock wise then it is called RIGHT

HAND screw dislocation.

• If circuit is anti-clock wise, then it is called LEFT

HAND screw dislocation.

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Mixed Dislocation

• Most dislocations can exhibit both edge and screw

characteristics.

• These are called mixed dislocations.

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Mixed Dislocation

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