A test structure which consisted of a box-shaped B profile, capped by a lightly-doped As layer, was used to determine whether extended defects absorbed some of the interstitials which were injected during wet thermal oxidation. Reduced oxidation-enhanced diffusion of the B layer was observed in samples which contained extended defects. Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements were combined with transmission electron microscopic measurements in order to calculate a product, of interstitial diffusivity and interstitial concentration, which was in good agreement with values which had previously been deduced from Au diffusion experiments. In addition, a lower bound on the ratio, of the net numbers of Si atoms which were injected during oxidation to the number of Si atoms consumed, was calculated. A one-dimensional model for the growth of extended defects was studied, and simulations which were performed using the new model agreed with experimental data. The growth of the extended defects was shown to be a reaction-limited process.

R.Y.S.Huang, R.W.Dutton: Journal of Applied Physics, 1993, 74[9], 5821-7