The structural features of the silicon surface–Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast suspended in ethanol system, which emerge in weak magnetic fields, are considered in this paper. It is assumed that these features arise from the electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged cell surface and positively charged metal ions emerging on the silicon surface after magnetic activation. The effect of magnetic treatment on the distribution of ethanol microdroplets on the silicon surface is studied separately.

The effect of soft X-rays with photon energy W = 8 keV on the kinetics of decay photovoltage in solar silicon crystals is studied. The correlation between the radiation-stimulated change in the electrical characteristics of the investigated crystals and the evolution of their charge, structural state, and surface morphology is established. Also studied are the changes in the photovoltage decay kinetics caused by the action of X-rays on the solar Si – nanofilled polymer coating structures. It is shown that X-ray irradiation leads to quite big recombination losses in the case that the epoxy-urethane matrix contains a filler (polysiloxane particles (PSPs)) in the amount of 0.001 and 1.0 wt. %. At the same time, at PSP filler content of 0.5 wt. %, the passivation epoxy-urethane coatings exhibit an increased radiation resistance.

We improve the lifetime of n-type Czochralski-grown silicon wafers using weak magnetic fields. This processing is found to increase carrier lifetimes by up to a factor of 2, from about 3μs to 7μs in our samples. Employing atomic and magnetic force microscopy, surface photovoltage transients, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique, we show that the effect can be explained by the magnetic field stimulated impurity diffusion from a bulk into the crystal surface, which forms impurity nanoclusters on the surface that can serve as centers of absorption of chemical elements from the environment. This, in turn, increases the oxide film thickness. We furthermore assume that the growth of SiO2 leads to negatively charged oxygen species in the vicinity of the Si/SiO2 interface. The existence of a local electric field generated by the charged areas can thus cause surface gettering by the positively charged metal ions, such as K+, Na+, Ca+, Al+, moved from the wafer bulk. Exposure to weak magnetic fields is therefore assumed to be important for the cost effective overall gettering efficiency during processing of silicon wafers for solar cell production.

The evolution of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae suspension deposited onto the surface of silicon is investigated. Evolution of the yeast is caused by the effect of a weak stationary magnetic field ( B = 0.17 T) and low-energy ( E = 8 keV) low-dose ( D = 10 4 Gy) X-ray radiation. It is found that the magnetic and X-ray treatment of the yeast suspension leads to ordering of the cell structures. It is suggested that one reason for this ordering is the presence of electric charges in the cells and on the surface of the silicon crystals exposed to magnetic and X-ray treatment.

This paper investigates the changes in the decay kinetics of photovoltage due to the influence of low-energy (W = 8 keV) X-ray on the structure of the "solar" silicon + nanofilled polymer coatings. It is shown that radiation-stimulated degradation of the short-term and long-term components of decay, which are depended on the carriers' lifetime on the surface and near-surface layers of "solar" silicon (s-Si) crystals accordingly, is absent for s-Si crystals with filler content (polysiloxane particles) in an amount of 0.5 wt. %. It is determined that the essential loss of radiation stability in s-Si crystals is observed when filler content (polysiloxane particles) in an amount of C = 0,001 % and C = 1 %.

We study the kinetics of the photovoltage decay in silicon crystals, caused by the effect of lowenergy (E = 8 keV) X-ray radiation. A correlation between radiation-induced changes in the short-term and long-term components of the photovoltage decay and the charge state of the surface, determined by measuring the surface distribution of the amplitude and decay time of the photovoltage, is found.

Despite considerable efforts, it has still much to be done in studying of magneto-stimulated effects on structure and physical characteristics of solar silicon. This research field is of remarkable importance beМеталлофиз. новейшие технол. / Metallofiz. Noveishie Tekhnol. 2014, т. 36, No 2, сс. 189—193 Оттиски доступны непосредственно от издателя Фотокопирование разрешено только в соответствии с лицензией 2014 ИМФ (Институт металлофизики им. Г. В. Курдюмова НАН Украины)

The influence of migration barriers on the mobility of short surface dislocations (length L of ≤100 μm) in Si crystals is analyzed in this paper. The dependence of the migration barrier on the diffusion coefficient of impurities that are dominant in Si after surface metallization is established.

Features of changes in the microhardness of nand p-type Si crystals exposed to low-energy X-ray radiation (E = 8 keV) at low doses (D = 1.8 × 103 to 3 × 104 Gy) are studied. The changes are classified as a radiation–mechanical effect and depend on a number of factors, e.g., layer occurrence depth, siliconcrystal conductivity type, and charge-carrier concentration. The revealed difference in the radiation–mechanical effects in nand p-type Si crystals is attributed to the specific features of radiation-stimulated interdefect transformations in the studied crystals.

The crack resistance of silicon samples with copper coatings has been studied at room temperature. It has been shown that the deposition of copper coatings on the silicon surface is accompanied by an increase in the crack resistance factor and the formation of regions with dislocations in external load zones, which indicates plastic deformation in the brittle fracture zone.