Experimental investigation and modeling of the role of extended defects during thermal oxidation

A special test structure consisting of a box-shaped boron profile capped by a lightly doped arsenic layer has been used to determine that extended defects absorb some of the interstitials injected during a wet thermal oxidation. Reduced oxidation-enhanced diffusion of the boron layer is observed for samples containing the extended defects. Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements are combined with transmission electron microscopy measurements to calculate the DIC*I product which is found to be in good agreement with values previously obtained from gold diffusion experiments. In addition, a lower bound on the ratio of the net number of silicon atoms injected during the oxidation to the number of silicon atoms consumed is calculated. A one-dimensional model for the growth of the extended defects has been implemented into suprem-iv. Simulations with the new model agree with experimental data. The growth of the extended defects is also shown to be a reaction-limited process.