Direct Dislocation Velocity Measurement in Silicon by X-Ray Topography

Abstract

Glide velocity measurements were made on isolated screw and 60° dislocations in silicon for the temperature range 775°–925°C. The x-ray topographs which were used to reveal dislocation displacements also gave qualitative information concerning the early stages of dislocation multiplication in highly perfect silicon crystals. Freshly generated dislocations were more mobile than aged dislocations. Pinning points which were tentatively attributed to thermal jogs developed along the lines. The pinning point spacing decreased with increasing temperature as would be expected for a jog formation energy of 1.2 eV. Heating to above 1000°C effectively immobilized all the dislocations present in the crystal. On subsequent loading at 825°C, no motion took place until the stress was high enough to cause catastrophic multiplication when a segment of dislocation did break away. This resulted in the formation of heavy bands of slip. For fresh dislocations the temperature dependence of velocity was analyzed on the basis of a kink pair nucleation and kink propagation model. The measured activation energy for motion of both 60° and screw dislocations was 1.8±0.3 eV.