Factors Influencing the Stability of Radiation Defects in Semiconductors

Recent advances in the understanding of radiation damage in semiconductors are discussed and areas of difficulty are indicated. Most attention is focused upon (a) stability of close-pair defects resulting from low temperature irradiation with energetic (0.7 to 5 Mev) electrons, (b) the yield of permanent damage in germanium as a function of temperature, (c) damage of intermediate stability in germanium (anneals at 150°K) which is attributable to non-reorientable divacancies, (d) interstitials in electron bombarded germanium, and (e) low temperature damage in electron bombarded p-type germanium and its transformation by light and heating. The inadequacies of certain of the models are discussed particularly in the case of (e).