The nucleation and growth of voids and vacancy-type dislocation loops, during crystal growth under Si vacancy supersaturation conditions, were modelled. On the basis of nucleation barrier calculations, it was deduced that voids could be nucleated; but not dislocation loops. The homogeneous nucleation rate of voids was calculated for various temperatures by assuming a different enthalpy for Si vacancy formation. The void growth process was calculated by using a moving-boundary formulation. By matching the results of void nucleation and growth simulations, and by taking account of the competition between the 2 processes, the limited time available, and the cooling rate, it was shown that experimentally observed void density and size data could be explained if the Si vacancy formation enthalpy were in the range of 2.8 to 3.4eV, and the void nucleation temperature were in the range of 970 to 1060C.

Modelling of Nucleation and Growth of Voids in Silicon. P.S.Plekhanov, U.M.Gösele, T.Y.Tan: Journal of Applied Physics, 1998, 84[2], 718-26