Thermal behaviors of intrinsic defect clusters (self-interstitials and vacancies) in Si crystals implanted with several metals including Cu were observed by photoluminescence measurements to investigate the influences of the metals on the diffusion of the intrinsic defects. Enhanced annihilations of the defect clusters were observed only for an O-lean float-zone crystal implanted with Cu and annealed at 400 to 600C, while they were not observed for any types of crystals (n- and p-type float-zone and Czochralski crystals) implanted with Fe and Cr. The enhanced annihilations of the defect clusters were well explained by a vehicle action of fast diffusing Cu for vacancy transportation.

Enhanced Annihilation of Self-Interstitial Clusters by Vacancies Transported through Vehicle Action of Cu in Cu-Implanted Silicon Crystals. M.Nakamura, S.Murakami: Applied Physics Letters, 2005, 86[24], 241903 (3pp)