Influence of metal impurities on recombination activity of dislocations in multicrystalline silicon

The influence of Fe, Cu, and Ni atoms introduced by means of high-temperature diffusion on the recombination properties of dislocations in multicrystalline silicon is investigated by the electron-beam induced-current (EBIC) method. It is shown that the influence of all three impurities is qualitatively similar. Recombination activity of dislocations remains lower than the detection limit in the EBIC mode both for starting samples and after the diffusion of transition metals. The behavior of dislocations is interpreted under the assumption that dislocations are already impurity-saturated in starting samples.