The impact of dopant compensation on the boron-oxygen defect in p- and n-type crystalline silicon

Abstract

We review recent results relating to the boron-oxygen defect in compensated crystalline silicon for solar cells. The experimental observations are not easily explained by the standard model for the boron-oxygen defect, which involves substitutional boron. In addition, the proposed presence of boron-phosphorus pairs as a possible explanation for these findings is inconsistent with numerous other results. A recently proposed new model for the defect, based on interstitial boron, appears to resolve these problems. In this paper we attempt to extend this model to the case of boron-containing n-type silicon. The model predicts that the defect will occur in such material, as has been observed experimentally. However, the tentatively predicted impact of the defect on carrier lifetimes in such material does not appear to be consistent with recent experimental results.