The mechanical behavior of the Si(111)/Si3N4(00•1) interface was studied by means of million-atom molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that, at a critical value of the applied strain parallel to the interface, a crack formed at the nitride surface and moved towards the interface. The crack did not propagate into the Si substrate, but dislocations were instead emitted when the crack reached the interface. The dislocation loop propagated, on the ((¯1¯11) plane of the Si substrate, at a speed of 500m/s.

Dislocation Emission at the Silicon/Silicon Nitride Interface - a Million Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation on Parallel Computers M.E.Bachlechner, A.Omeltchenko, A.Nakano, R.K.Kalia, P.Vashishta, I.Ebbsjö, A.Madhukar: Physical Review Letters, 2000, 84[2], 322-5