QUANTITATIVE SEM/EBIC STUDIES OF CARRIER RECOMBINATION IN SILICON BICRYSTALS

The electron-beam-induced-current technique (SEM/EBIC) is applied in silicon bicrystals in order to study both the bulk diffusion length and the grain boundary recombination velocity. Different methods of evaluation are applied and the results are compared. The effect of various parameters on the quantitative analysis is discussed, in particular (i) the observation conditions (accelerating voltage and injection level), (ii) the angle between the grain boundary and the top surface and (iii) variation of the minority carrier diffusion length.