A study of the annealing of the 830 cm⁻¹ IR band observed in electron‐irradiated silicon

The annealing behavior of the 830 cm−1 (vacancy‐oxygen center) IR band caused by electron‐irradiation of oxygen containing silicon is studied in silicon samples with different thermal history. As the 830 cm−1 IR band anneals out during isothermal annealing at 304 °C, a new strong IR band appears at 889 cm−1. Experimental evidence is presented, which strongly indicates, that the new 889 cm−1 IR band is related to an infrared active center which contains two oxygen atoms. The efficiency with which 889 cm−1 IR active centers are formed from VO‐centers, is found to depend on the residual carbon concentration and possibly on the thermal history of the specimens. Therefore annealing of the VO‐center can occur via several competing mechanisms. Copyright © 1986 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA