THE BELL SYSTEM 



TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



VOLUME XXXV MAY 1956 number 3 



Copyright 1956, American Telephone and Telegraph Company 



Chemical Interactions Among Defects in 

 Germanium and Silicon 



By HOWARD REISS, C. S. FULLER, and F. J. MORIN 



Interactio7is among dejects in germanium and silicon have been investi- 

 gated. The solid solutions involved hear a strong resemblance to aqueous 

 solutions insofar as they represent media for chemical reactions. Such 

 phenomena as acid-base neutralization, complex ion formation, andion pair- 

 ing, all take place. These phenomena, besides being of interest in themselves, 

 are uscfid in studying the properties of the semiconductors in which they 

 occur. The following article is a blend of theory ami experime7it, and de- 

 scribes developments in this field during the past few years. 



CONTENTS 



I . Introduction 536 



IL Electrons and Holes as Chemical Entities 537 



in. Application of the Mass Action Principle 546 



IV. Further Applications of the Mass Action Principle 550 



V. Complex Ion Formation 557 



VI. Ion Pairing 565 



VII. Theories of Ion Pairing 567 



VIII. Phenomena Associated with Ion Pairing in Semiconductors 575 



IX. Pairing Calculations 578 



X. Theory of Relaxation 582 



XI. Investigation of Ion Pairing by Diffusion 591 



535 



