It was recalled that buried oxides in Si-on-insulator structures had been reported to grow in thickness upon thermally oxidizing the superficial Si layer. A thermodynamic model was presented here which was based upon the experimental observation that thermal oxidation led to an increase in the O interstitial concentration in Si to beyond its normal solubility. This increase was assumed to be proportional to the growth rate of the external thermal oxide. Discrepancies between the only 2 available sets of data were explained in terms of differing levels of oxidation-induced supersaturations of Si self-interstitials.

U.Gösele, E.Schroer, J.Y.Huh: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 67[2], 241-3