Properties of Point Defects in Silicon: New Results after a Long-Time Debate

2013 ◽  
Vol 205-206 ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Bracht ◽  
René Kube ◽  
Erwin Hüger ◽  
Harald Schmidt

The contributions of vacancies and self-interstitials to silicon (Si) self-diffusion are a matter of debate since many years. These native defects are involved in dopant diffusion and the formation of defect clusters and thus influence many processes that take place during Si single crystal growth and the fabrication of silicon based electronic devices. Considering their relevance it is remarkable that present data about the properties of native point defects in Si are still limited and controversy. This work reports recent results on the properties of native point defects in silicon deduced from self-diffusion experiments below 850°C. The temperature dependence of silicon self-diffusion is accurately described by contributions due to vacancies and self-interstitials assuming temperature dependent vacancy properties. The concept of vacancies whose thermodynamic properties change with temperature solves the inconsistency between self-and dopant diffusion in Si but further experiments are required to verify this concept and to prove its relevance for other material systems.

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (S1) ◽  
pp. 287-293
Author(s):  
J. A. Chisholm ◽  
P. D. Bristowe

We report on the interaction of native point defects with commonly observed planar defects in GaN. Using a pair potential model we find a positive binding energy for all native defects to the three boundary structures investigated indicating a preference for native defects to form in these interfaces. The binding energy is highest for the Ga interstitial and lowest for vacancies. Interstitials, which are not thought to occur in significant concentrations in bulk GaN, should form in the (11 0) IDB and the (10 0) SMB and consequently alter the electronic structure of these boundaries.


2000 ◽  
Vol 610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ant Ural ◽  
Serene Koh ◽  
P. B. Griffin ◽  
J. D. Plummer

AbstractUnderstanding the coupling between native point defects and dopants at high concentrations in silicon will be key to ultra shallow junction formation in silicon technology. Other effects, such as transient enhanced diffusion (TED) will become less important. In this paper, we first describe how thermodynamic properties of the two native point defects in silicon, namely vacancies and self-interstitials, have been obtained by studying self-diffusion in isotopically enriched structures. We then discuss what this tells us about dopant diffusion. In particular, we show that the diffusion of high concentration shallow dopant profiles is determined by the competition between the flux of mobile dopants and those of the native point defects. These fluxes are proportional to the interstitial or vacancy components of dopant and self-diffusion, respectively. This is why understanding the microscopic mechanisms of silicon self-diffusion is important in predicting and modeling the diffusion of ultra shallow dopant profiles. As an example, we show experimental data and simulation fits of how these coupling effects play a role in the annealing of shallow BF2 ion implantation profiles. We conclude that relatively low temperature furnace cycles following high temperature rapid thermal anneals (RTA) have a significant effect on the minimum junction depth that can be achieved.


1999 ◽  
Vol 83 (17) ◽  
pp. 3454-3457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ant Ural ◽  
P. B. Griffin ◽  
J. D. Plummer

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (32) ◽  
pp. 8419-8424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Catellani ◽  
Alice Ruini ◽  
Arrigo Calzolari

The effects of native defects (e.g. VO, VZn, H) on the TCO properties and color of an Al:ZnO (AZO) material are investigated using first principles calculations.


1999 ◽  
Vol 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Chisholm ◽  
P. D. Bristowe

AbstractWe report on the interaction of native point defects with commonly observed planar defects in GaN. Using a pair potential model we find a positive binding energy for all native defects to the three boundary structures investigated indicating a preference for native defects to form in these interfaces. The binding energy is highest for the Ga interstitial and lowest for vacancies. Interstitials, which are not thought to occur in significant concentrations in bulk GaN, should form in the (11 20) IDB and the (10 10) SMB and consequently alter the electronic structure of these boundaries.


Author(s):  
Byung-Teak Lee

Grown-in dislocations in GaAs have been a major obstacle in utilizing this material for the potential electronic devices. Although it has been proposed in many reports that supersaturation of point defects can generate dislocation loops in growing crystals and can be a main formation mechanism of grown-in dislocations, there are very few reports on either the observation or the structural analysis of the stoichiometry-generated loops. In this work, dislocation loops in an arsenic-rich GaAs crystal have been studied by transmission electron microscopy.The single crystal with high arsenic concentration was grown using the Horizontal Bridgman method. The arsenic source temperature during the crystal growth was about 630°C whereas 617±1°C is normally believed to be optimum one to grow a stoichiometric compound. Samples with various orientations were prepared either by chemical thinning or ion milling and examined in both a JEOL JEM 200CX and a Siemens Elmiskop 102.


1994 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 51-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chingyi Chang ◽  
Robert L. Powell

We study the average mobilities and long-time self-diffusion coefficients of a suspension of bimodally distributed spherical particles. Stokesian dynamics is used to calculate the particle trajectories for a monolayer of bimodal-sized spheres. Hydrodynamic forces only are considered and they are calculated using the inverse of the grand mobility matrix for far-field many-body interactions and lubrication formulae for near-field effects. We determine both the detailed microstructure (e.g. the pair-connectedness function and cluster formation) and the macroscopic properties (e.g. viscosity and self-diffusion coefficients). The flow of an ‘infinite’ suspension is simulated by considering 25, 49, 64 and 100 particles to be one ‘cell’ of a periodic array. Effects of both the size ratio and the relative fractions of the different-sized particles are examined. For the microstructures, the pair-connectedness function shows that the particles form clusters in simple shearing flow due to lubrication forces. The nearly symmetric angular structures imply the absence of normal stress differences for a suspension with purely hydrodynamic interactions between spheres. For average mobilities at infinite Péclet number, Ds0, our simulation results suggest that the reduction of Ds0 as concentration increases is directly linked to the influence of particle size distribution on the average cluster size. For long-time self-diffusion coefficients, Ds∞, we found good agreement between simulation and experiment (Leighton & Acrovos 1987 a; Phan and Leighton 1993) for monodispersed suspensions. For bimodal suspensions, the magnitude of Ds∞, and the time to reach the asymptotic diffusive behaviour depend on the cluster size formed in the system, or the viscosity of the suspension. We also consider the effect of the initial configuration by letting the spheres be both organized (size segregated) and randomly placed. We find that it takes a longer time for a suspension with an initially organized structure to achieve steady state than one with a random structure.


1999 ◽  
Vol 568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur F.W. Willoughby ◽  
Janet M. Bonar ◽  
Andrew D.N. Paine

ABSTRACTInterest in diffusion processes in SiGe alloys arises from their potential in HBT's, HFET's, and optoelectronics devices, where migration over distances as small as a few nanometres can be significant. Successful modelling of these processes requires a much improved understanding of the mechanisms of self- and dopant diffusion in the alloy, although recent progress has been made. It is the purpose of this review to set this in the context of diffusion processes in elemental silicon and germanium, and to identify how this can help to elucidate behaviour in the alloy. Firstly, self diffusion processes are reviewed, from general agreement that self-diffusion in germanium is dominated by neutral and acceptor vacancies, to the position in silicon which is still uncertain. Germanium diffusion in silicon, however, appears to be via both vacancy and interstitial processes, and in the bulk alloy there is evidence for a change in dominant mechanism at around 35 percent germanium. Next, a review of dopant diffusion begins with Sb, which appears to diffuse in germanium by a mechanism similar to self-diffusion, and in silicon via monovacancies also, from marker layer evidence. In SiGe, the effects of composition and strain in epitaxial layers on Si substrates are also consistent with diffusion via vacancies, but questions still remain on the role of charged defects. The use of Sb to monitor vacancy effects such as grown-in defects by low temperature MBE, are discussed. Lastly, progress in assessing the role of vacancies and interstitials in the diffusion of boron is reviewed, which is dominated by interstitials in silicon-rich alloys, but appears to change to domination by vacancies at around 40 percent germanium, although studies in pure germanium are greatly needed.


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