Dislocations and mechanical properties of silicon

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This paper shows how the mechanical properties of silicon observed on a macroscopic scale are understood in terms of dislocation processes which take place on a microscopic scale. It is shown that the density of dislocation sources contained in a silicon crystal strongly affects the mechanical strength. Impurities are gettered by dislocations very effectively and, as a result, immobilize the dislocations. This leads to a reduction in the effective density of multiplication centers of dislocations and results in an increase in the mechanical strength of silicon crystals.