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Main Authors: Dai, Zhenxing, Huang, Menglin, Gong, Xin-Gao, Chen, Shiyou
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25621
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author Dai, Zhenxing
Huang, Menglin
Gong, Xin-Gao
Chen, Shiyou
author_facet Dai, Zhenxing
Huang, Menglin
Gong, Xin-Gao
Chen, Shiyou
contents Platinum (Pt) is widely used for carrier-lifetime control in silicon power devices, yet the microscopic nonradiative recombination mechanism of the substitutional platinum ($\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$) dopant remains debated. Using first-principles calculations combined with nonradiative multiphonon theory, we systematically investigate the electronic structures and carrier capture dynamics of $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$. Our results show that both the donor ($+/0$) and acceptor ($0/-$) levels of $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ exhibit large capture cross sections for electron and hole carriers, thereby making $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ an effective recombination center. Notably, the calculated capture cross sections are sensitive to the symmetry-equivalent defect configurations with different Jahn-Teller distortions. By accounting for two different $D_{2d}$ configurations of neutral $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ during transitions properly, our calculated carrier capture cross sections align well with experimental values. This work provides a microscopic picture of the carrier capture processes induced by $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ and emphasizes the importance of symmetry-equivalent configurations in defect-assisted nonradiative recombination.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_25621
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Substitutional platinum as an efficient nonradiative recombination center in silicon
Dai, Zhenxing
Huang, Menglin
Gong, Xin-Gao
Chen, Shiyou
Materials Science
Platinum (Pt) is widely used for carrier-lifetime control in silicon power devices, yet the microscopic nonradiative recombination mechanism of the substitutional platinum ($\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$) dopant remains debated. Using first-principles calculations combined with nonradiative multiphonon theory, we systematically investigate the electronic structures and carrier capture dynamics of $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$. Our results show that both the donor ($+/0$) and acceptor ($0/-$) levels of $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ exhibit large capture cross sections for electron and hole carriers, thereby making $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ an effective recombination center. Notably, the calculated capture cross sections are sensitive to the symmetry-equivalent defect configurations with different Jahn-Teller distortions. By accounting for two different $D_{2d}$ configurations of neutral $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ during transitions properly, our calculated carrier capture cross sections align well with experimental values. This work provides a microscopic picture of the carrier capture processes induced by $\text{Pt}_\text{Si}$ and emphasizes the importance of symmetry-equivalent configurations in defect-assisted nonradiative recombination.
title Substitutional platinum as an efficient nonradiative recombination center in silicon
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25621