Cyclotron Resonance of Doped Silicon

Abstract

Electron scattering and recombination studies through cyclotron resonance in doped silicon are carried out between 1.5 and 4.2°K. It is found that below 4.2°K the electron resonance linewidth for p-type silicon consists not only of scattering effect, but also of lifetime broadening. The latter can largely be eliminated on application of a strong uniaxial stress. So long as the scattering part is concerned, the observed features both for n-and for p-type materials are qualitatively explicable through the model of electron or positron scattering by a free hydrogen atom. Some discrepancies owing to the failure of the effective mass approach, however, are observed for all the dopants except for lithium. Analyses of temperature, stress and concentration dependence of electron lifetime in boron-doped silicon lead to the conclusion that the neutral boron impurities themselves are responsible for the carrier recombination.