Formation of shallow-acceptor defects in Li-irradiated N-type silicon

Abstract Point-defect-based n -type doping has been applied in power devices, whereas shallow-acceptor defects has remained unexplored in Si. We demonstrate a shallow-acceptor defect formation in Si by means of lithium-ion irradiation and thermal annealing. Comparative studies with hydrogen, helium and lithium irradiations revealed that the p -type conductivity primarily attributed to a combination of intrinsic defects and lithium-related defect complexes, stable up to 500 °C. This approach potentially addresses a limitation in the versatile application of light ion irradiation techniques, particularly for achieving p -type conductivity and is beneficial on device fabrications such as in the context of a low temperature activation.