It was noted that, in spite of considerable effort, the predominant mechanism for this diffusion remained a hotly debated subject, together with the values of the key activation energies. Some evidence indicated that the principal mobile species was a B-Si complex (so-called pair diffusion), whereas other evidence pointed to a lone B interstitial (kick-out). An attempt was made to resolve the question by formulating a comprehensive kinetic model that incorporated both mechanisms. Rate parameters for the elementary steps were estimated systematically, based upon literature reports or physical arguments. In the frequent cases where reports conflicted, a maximum likelihood estimation was used to determine the best value, and multivariate statistics were used to quantify its accuracy. A Monte Carlo technique was used to show that kick-out very probably predominated over pair diffusion in both implanted Si and non-implanted Si.

Pair Diffusion and Kick-Out - Contributions to Diffusion of Boron in Silicon. M.Y.L.Jung, R.Gunawan, R.D.Braatz, E.G.Seebauer: AIChE Journal, 2004, 50[12], 3248-56