An  in situ  high-voltage electron microscopic study was made of surface damage-induced dislocation generation and propagation in samples with a periodic mechanical stress-field at the surface. The experimental observations were explained in terms of a theoretical model which described dislocation nucleation as a function of the substrate and stress-field orientations. It was shown that  in situ  studies of dislocation generation could clarify the basic mechanisms of defect formation in integrated circuits.

J.Vanhellemont, C.Claeys, J.Van Landuyt: Physica Status Solidi A, 1995, 150[1], 497-506