The scope of the present paper is the understanding of the most important parameters influencing carrier lifetime measurement results. The role of surface conditions and carrier injection levels are discussed in details. Two techniques, μ-PCD and SPV, are compared for the case of some important recombination centers, such as Fe, Cr, Au and Co. Fe and Cr are investigated by both techniques in their single atomic form and also when pairing with dopant boron. It is shown that SPV results are in agreement with the expectations from μ-PCD data when the difference in injection level is taken into account. The capabilities of the two techniques are demonstrated in the case of Fe-B and Cr-B pair dissociation and association processes.
