Iron diffusivity in silicon: Impact of charge state

The effect of iron charge state on its diffusion in p‐type Si near room temperature has been investigated by C–V and depth dependent deep‐level transient spectroscopy measurements. The migration enthalpies of both positively charged and neutral iron were found to be 0.92 and 0.56 eV, respectively. Disagreement between the theoretical predictions and experimentally observed trend in iron diffusion is briefly discussed in terms of diffusion path, elastic strain, and Coulombic interaction versus impurity charge state.