Lifetime in ion implant damage gettered silicon by MOS voltage ramping

The Ar⁺ion implant damage gettering of silicon has been investigated using non-steady-state linear voltage ramp technique on MOS devices. Generation lifetimes were measured on devices that have been ion implant damaged and annealed in nitrogen at high temperature. The results were compared with control devices. It was found that a gettering treatment consisting of a high-temperature nitrogen anneal following "room temperature" implant increased the generation lifetime of minority carriers in the device by an order of magnitude.