Study of the V${}_2^0$ state in neutron-irradiated silicon using photon-absorption measurements

Pieces of $n$-type silicon with 3.5 k$\mathrm{\Omega }\cdot$cm resistivity have been irradiated by reactor neutrons to fluences of (1, 5 and 10) $\times {10}^{16}$ cm${}^{-2}$. Using light-transmission measurements, the absorption coefficients have been determined for photon energies, $E_{\gamma }$, between 0.62 and 1.30 eV for the samples as irradiated and after 15 min isochronal annealing with temperatures between 80°C and 330°C. The radiation-induced absorption coefficient, ${\alpha }_{irr}$, has been obtained by subtracting the absorption coefficient for non-irradiated silicon. The $E_{\gamma }$-dependence of ${\alpha }_{irr}$ shows a resonance peak, which is ascribed to the neutral divacancy, V${}_2^0$, sitting on a background, and ${\alpha }_{irr}(E_{\gamma })$ is fitted by a Breit-Wigner line shape on a parameterized background. It is found that at an annealing temperature of 210°C the V${}_2^0$ intensity is reduced by a factor 2, and that at the meV level, the position and the width of the fitted Breit-Wigner do not change with irradiation dose and annealing.