The behavior of O in degenerately doped Czochralski material was studied after extended annealing at temperatures ranging from 750 to 900C in a N ambient. Out-diffusion of O appeared to be significantly retarded. On the basis of the defect morphology, as observed using high-resolution electron microscopy, it was concluded that degenerate Si was saturated with interstitial defect species during extended annealing. The retardation of O diffusion was suggested to be caused by a strong pairing reaction between B and O atoms.

W.Wijaranakula: Applied Physics Letters, 1993, 62[23], 2974-6