The crystallographic defects which were present in thermally oxidized SIMOX materials were characterized by using plan-view transmission electron microscopy and etching techniques. It was observed that oxidation-induced stacking faults formed in the Si over-layer of the SIMOX substrates during oxidation at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1100C. Within this temperature range, the oxidation-induced stacking fault length increased continuously with time and temperature, while the density of oxidation-induced stacking faults exhibited a decrease with oxidation temperature. It was also observed that, at temperatures above 1275C, no oxidation-induced stacking faults formed in the Si over-layer of the SIMOX substrates. This behavior was explained in terms of a decrease in the flux of interstitials, which were emitted during oxidation, due to visco-elastic deformation of the oxide at high temperatures.

L.F.Giles, Y.Kunii: Materials Science and Engineering B, 1996, 41[1], 182-5