Defects in Semiconductors : Charge States, Shallow Traps and Annealing Experiments

Utilizing positron annihilation spectroscopy for studying the energetics, kinetics or charge states of open volume point defects in semiconductors is seldom straight forward. Although obtaining usable experimental results with the technique is usually fairly easy, designing a suitable experiment for a specific case and/or interpreting the results in an unambiguous manner can be challenging. The goal of this lecture is to give advice and suggestions on what to consider when planning experiments with Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy (PAS) in semiconductors, through various example cases. This contribution is not meant to be scientific, rather educational.