Kinetics of the electronically stimulated formation of a boron-oxygen complex in crystalline silicon

We present experimental data relating to the slow stage of the illumination-induced or electron-injection-induced generation, in crystalline p-type silicon, of the carrier-recombination center believed to be the defect complex (BsO2i)(+) formed by diffusion of oxygen interstitial dimers O-2i(++) to substitutional boron atoms B-s(-) and, taking account of those data, we consider a detailed theoretical model for the kinetics of the diffusion reaction. The model proposes that the generation rate of the (BsO2i)(+) defects is controlled by the capture of a majority-carrier hole by the dimer following the capture of a minority-carrier electron and by the Coulomb attraction of the O-2i(++) to the B-s(-) atom, and leads to predictions for the defect generation rate that are in excellent quantitative agreement with experiment.