Stacking faults in steam-oxidized silicon

Abstract

Silicon wafers oriented along 〈111〉 and in which surface damage was removed were annealed in vacuum at 800, 1000 and 1200°C. After steam oxidation at 1150°C, only the wafers annealed at 1000 and 1200°C showed significant generation of stacking faults. The faults were observed through both chemical etching and transmission electron microscopy. The faults often showed accumulation of impurities believed to be silicon-oxygen complexes. Single-stacking faults were identified as extrinsic, and mechanism of generation of these faults is discussed.