Many analyses of the effects of surface treatments upon atomic diffusion have explained these effects mainly in terms of the behavior of Si self-interstitials. However, it was shown here (by means of straightforward Monte Carlo simulations of the diffusion of Au into Si according to the Seeger kick-out mechanism) that this mechanism was completely incapable of explaining the 2-sided U-shaped profile of substitutional Au which resulted from the 1-sided in-diffusion of Au. It was shown that, if Au interstitials could displace Si at any appreciable rate, then the Au substitutional profile had to decrease monotonically from the source side to the far side. It was suggested that this provided strong evidence for the concept that Si self-interstitials played no role in thermal processes in Si. The result was that the surface treatment effects which were often attributed to Si self-interstitials could be explained without invoking them.

J.A.Van Vechten, U.Schmid, Q.S.Zhang: Journal of Electronic Materials, 1991, 20[6], 431-40