Measurement accuracy analysis of photocarrier radiometric determination of electronic transport parameters of silicon wafers

Simulations are performed to investigate the accuracy of the simultaneous determination of the electronic transport properties (the carrier lifetime, the carrier diffusion coefficient, and the front and rear surface recombination velocities) of silicon wafers by means of the photocarrier radiometry (PCR) technique through fitting frequency-scan data to a rigorous model via a multi-parameter fitting process. The uncertainties of the fitted parameter values are analyzed by calculating the dependence of the square variance including both amplitude and phase variances on the electronic transport properties. Simulation results show that the ability of the PCR to accurately determine carrier lifetimes gradually decreases for lifetimes longer than roughly 100 microseconds. In case the carrier diffusion coefficient is previously known, the carrier lifetime and front surface recombination velocity can be determined with uncertainties approximately +/-20% or less. Experiments with an ion-implanted silicon wafer were performed and the carrier lifetime and front surface recombination velocity were determined with estimated uncertainties approximately +/-30% and +/-15%, respectively. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.