The effect of a thermally grown silicon nitride film during annealing in Ar at 1100C was studied. An enhanced diffusivity of Sb was detected, but this behavior disappeared when the nitride was removed before annealing in Ar. It was suggested that the enhanced diffusivity was not directly related to the growth of the nitride, but was instead due to stresses which were present in the film.

S.T.Ahn, H.W.Kennel, J.D.Plummer, W.A.Tiller: Applied Physics Letters, 1988, 53[17], 1593-5