Abstract
To understand the role of deliberate phosphorus doping on the minority carrier lifetime of iron contaminated boron-phosphoruscompensated p-type solar grade silicon, a numerical study has been performed. This study confirmed that compensation results in a significant increase in the bulk lifetime of a minority carrier. The gain in the carrier lifetime is predicted due to the shift in the Fermi energy level, carriers screening and reduction in net equilibrium hole concentration. The bulk lifetime of a minority carrier reaches its maximum for a phosphorus concentration around 10(15)cm(-3) if the boron concentrations remain fixed at 10(17)cm(-3).