Electron-beam-induced current study of small-angle grain boundaries in multicrystalline silicon

Recombination activity of small-angle grain boundaries (SA GBs) in multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) was studied by means of electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) technique. In the as-grown mc-Si, the EBIC contrasts of special E and random GBs were weak at both 300 and 100 K, whereas those of SA GBs were weak (< 3%) at 300 K and strong (30-40%) at 100 K. In the contaminated me-Si, SA GBs showed stronger EBIC contrast than Sigma and R GBs at 300 K. It is indicated that SA GBs possess high density of shallow levels and are easily contaminated with Fe compared to other GBs. (c) 2005 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.