The conditions which were necessary for driving the reconstruction of a dislocation core by means of He atoms diffusing along a dislocation pipe were examined. Using a simple model, it was shown that, unlike the case of Ge (in which such reconstruction occurred), the chances of driving such a reconstruction in Si by He were rather small. Attention had to be focussed on H, which was known to diffuse effectively into deformed Si.

B.Pohoryles: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 1988, 58[1], 1-5