Anomalous Out-Diffusion Profiles of Nitrogen in Silicon

Abstract

Out-diffusion nitrogen profiles measured by SIMS after annealing at 850 and 800oC, have a peculiar minimum at a depth of about 5 m. The profiles are well reproduced by simulations assuming that there is a considerable fraction of nitrogen stored in substitutional clusters VN4. Upon annealing, these clusters lose nitrogen and convert into a stable high-temperature form VN1. This reaction involves a preliminary attachment of a fast-diffusing interstitial trimer, N3. Accordingly, the conversion occurs only in the bulk but not at the surface (due to out-diffusion loss of N3), and the substitutional component decreases from the surface towards the bulk. By fitting the profiles, the two basic parameters of the N2/N1 transport are deduced: P = D1K1/2 (a combination of the monomeric diffusivity D1 and the dissociation constant of dimers, K), and the dissociation time of dimers. With these data, D1(T) and K(T) are specified.