The mechanism which drove the ripening of vacancy clusters was clarified by means of lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, using various binding models. A modified Ising model, which also took account of second-nearest neighbor interactions, furnished vacancy cluster energetics which were in quantitative agreement with tight-binding molecular dynamics calculations. It was shown that, when this model was used, the ripening process was also driven by the migration of small vacancy clusters, and not only by free vacancies. This produced faster vacancy agglomeration, and a marked modification of the cluster-size distribution.

Role of extended vacancy-vacancy interaction in the ripening of voids in silicon A.La Magna, S.Coffa, L.Colombo: Physical Review Letters, 1999, 82[8], 1720-3