Many substitutional impurities in crystalline solids diffuse via a hybrid mechanism which involves a fast-migrating intermediate species. Non-equilibrium measurements of the migration frequency and the migration length for the impurity could provide data on atomic-scale diffusion mechanisms. The method was applied to the case of B in crystalline Si. It was found that the B diffused mainly via a migrating interstitial species, Bi, which was generated by a kick-out reaction.

N.E.B.Cowern, G.F.A.Van de Walle, D.J.Gravesteijn, C.J.Vriezema: Physical Review Letters, 1991, 67[2], 212-5