It was shown using straightforward Monte Carlo simulations of Au diffusion according to the Seeger kick-out mechanism that this mechanism was entirely incapable of explaining the two-sided U-shaped profile of substitutional Au which resulted from one sided in-diffusion of Au. It was shown that, if Au interstitials could displace Si at any appreciable rate, then the Au substitutional profile had to decrease monotonically from the source side to the far side. It was noted that this was strong evidence that Si self-interstitials played no role in thermal processes in Si. It was concluded that the surface treatment effects which were often attributed to Si self-interstitials could be explained without them.

Surface Treatment Effects on Atomic Diffusion in Si Explained without Self Interstitials. J.A.Van Vechten, U.Schmid, Q.S.Zhang: Journal of Electronic Materials, 1991, 20[6], 431-9