Room-temperature gettering of Au in Si wafers with surface defects under small dose gamma-ray radiation

Removal of transition metal impurities from Si is conventionally based on various gettering methods, all needing a high temperature. In this work it is demonstrated that, in the condition of intentionally introduced surface defect regions, small dose gamma-ray radiation can be used to stimulate fast diffusion of Au resulting in gettering Au from bulk Si even at room temperature. This effect is named as the 'room-temperature radiation gettering effect'. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy measurements etc strongly confirm the effect. A physical model for the effect is suggested and its application prospect is discussed.Physics, AppliedSCI(E)EI0ARTICLEqingg@pku.edu.cn10null4