Does LeTID occur in c-Si even without a firing step?

It is shown that a non-fired B-doped floatzone silicon sample coated with SiNx:H may show severe bulk related degradation and regeneration during illuminated treatment at elevated temperature. It is discussed that the likely cause is light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID) in the silicon bulk. Firing is found to modulate the extent of LeTID so that degradation may either be weaker or stronger compared to the non-fired sample depending on firing parameters. A sample which was annealed instead of fired is found to be stable for up to 1,000 h of treatment time.publishe