Misfit dislocation nucleation was investigated in lightly B-doped epitaxial layers which had been deposited, via vapour-phase epitaxy at 1080 to 1150C, onto heavily B-doped substrates. The misfit was 1.5 x 10-4 and the layer thickness was 10μm. An orthogonal array of <110>-type dislocations was observed at the interface. The misfit dislocations were observed only around the wafer periphery, and the dislocation length was less in regions where both orthogonal <110> segments existed. In regions where the misfit dislocations were observed, triple-axis X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the layers were measurably relaxed. The distribution of the defects indicated that the wafer-periphery contained heterogeneous nucleation sites for misfit dislocation nucleation.

Misfit Dislocation Formation in p/p+ Silicon Vapor-Phase Epitaxy G.D.Fukuto, P.Feichtinger, G.D.U’Ren, S.Lindo, M.S.Goorsky, T.Magee, D.Oster, J.Moreland: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2000, 209[4], 716-23