Crystal Growth and Defect Engineering of Silicon and Germanium Semiconductors
This research community focuses on the physical production of high-purity silicon and germanium crystals, the control of atomic defects within them, and the optimization of doping processes for photovoltaic and electronic device applications.
The work centers on the Czochralski method for growing single-crystal silicon ingots, alongside directional solidification for multicrystalline material. Key technical themes include the manipulation of oxygen and carbon impurities, the analysis of lattice defects and dislocations, and the use of laser annealing and ion implantation to modify surface properties. A significant portion of the literature addresses the stability of minority carrier lifetimes and the mechanisms of light- and temperature-induced degradation in solar cells. Additionally, the community investigates the growth of silicon-germanium heterostructures and the thermal management of high-temperature processing steps to ensure material uniformity and electrical performance.
The community is most heavily weighted toward germanium, representing 15.4% of all tracked germanium research, and silicon, accounting for 7.0% of silicon research. In terms of raw volume, silicon contributes the largest number of papers with 27,042 entries, followed by germanium with 11,982.
The community comprises 49,507 papers, published predominantly in the Journal of Applied Physics, Applied Physics Letters, and MRS Proceedings.
Recent work continues to examine degradation mechanisms in doped silicon and germanium, with specific studies on gallium-doped silicon stability, radiation effects in germanium, and the fabrication of novel germanium transistors.