It was noted that, as the size of semiconductor devices continued to shrink, the control of dislocation nucleation became an increasing problem due to high accumulated stresses. A method was proposed for deducing the initiation points and slip systems, of nucleated dislocations, by a combination of transmission electron microscopy and dislocation dynamics simulations based upon finite-element calculations. In order to reproduce the behavior of dislocations at the nm-scale, the Brown-Schwarz core-splitting concept was adopted. The method was applied to a shallow trench isolation structure. The initiation points and slip systems of 4 kinds of nucleated dislocation could be detected. It was found that the line tension of the dislocation strongly affected the loop’s final shape; unlike the macroscopic dislocations observed in wafer slip.

Application of Three-Dimensional Dislocation Dynamics Simulation to the STI Semiconductor Structure. S.Izumi, T.Miyake, S.Sakai, H.Ohta: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2005, 395[1-2], 62-9