Atomic Diffusion Processes in Silicon

Abstract

AbstractThe mechanisms of self-diffusion and dopant impurity diffusion in silicon have been the subject of intense debate since the 1960’s. Until the mid-1980’s, there was only limited experimental information and virtually no theory. In the last five years, however, first-principles calculations of many key quantities and new experimental data have led to significant progress. This paper traces the major theoretical advances and the key experimental data that have resolved many controversies and have provided a fairly comprehensive picture of diffusion processes. Theory has also recently provided detailed microscopic information about the diffusion of interstitial hydrogen.