Oxygen Precipitation in Silicon

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe precipitation of oxygen in silicon exhibits many interesting phenomena: the precipitates are often distributed in striated zones; the morphology of precipitates changes with annealing temperatures; the kinetics of precipitation in the bulk is affected by annealing ambients and other surface treatments. These phenomena are briefly reviewed. A model consistent with all these phenomena is presented. Then, the energetics and the kinetics of nucleation and precipitation are discussed. Finally, a growth law is derived in general for disc precipitates, and applied in particular to oxygen precipitates in silicon.