Gettering of Metallic Impurities in Silicon

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe report the results of a study of the microstructural changes brought about by the gettering of metallic impurities in silicon. Phosphorus gettering proceeds by the formation of metal disilicides at the silicon/phosphosilicate glass interface. By showing that iron is strongly localized at the interface by phosphorus gettering, we present the first evidence that phosphorus gettering can proceed independently of Fermi level effects. Our first results on the intrinsic gettering of nickel lend support to the notion that the emission of silicon interstitials brought about by phosphorus diffusion (and SiP formation), or intrinsic gettering (SiOx, formation), plays an important role in the gettering process.