Kinetics of self-interstitials generated at the Si/SiO2 interface

The kinetics of self-interstitials in silicon were investigated by monitoring oxidation stacking faults on backside oxidized silicon wafers in the temperature range 1100–1200 °C in a wet O2 ambient. The diffusion coefficient and thermal equilibrium concentration of self-interstitials were obtained by optimizing model parameters to match calculated and experimental observations of growth of oxidation stacking faults at the front surface of silicon wafers protected from oxidation by a composite SiO2/poly Si/Si3N4 film.