Silicon-oxygen complexes containing three oxygen atoms as the dominant thermal donor species in heat-treated oxygen-containing silicon

A kinetic study of thermal donor formation in 450 °C heat-treated modern silicon crystals has been performed and it is concluded that SiO 3 complexes are the dominant thermal donor species (for heat-treatment times of up to about 100 h), rather than SiO4 complexes. Clusters containing a number of oxygen atoms other than three or four seem to be also electrically active.