Determination of the Kinetic Coefficients of Silicon Self‐Interstitials from Back‐Side Oxidation/Front‐Surface Stacking‐Fault Growth Experiments

A series of back‐side oxidation/front‐side stacking‐fault growth experiments have been carried out to determine the kinetic coefficients of self‐interstitials in silicon. In these experiments, wet and dry oxidations of the back side of thinned silicon samples were used to inject self‐interstitials from the back surfaces. The sample front surfaces were capped with oxide or nitride layers, and the concentration of self‐interstitials at the capped surfaces were monitored by the growth or shrinkage of surface stacking faults. Experimental results have been analyzed using steady‐state and transient models, based on the assumption that self‐interstitials dominate the kinetic processes of intrinsic point defects. From these analyses, the relative recombination rates of self‐interstitials at oxide and nitride boundary layers have been obtained, with an oxide layer found to absorb self‐interstitials at about three times the rate of a nitride layer. The results also suggest that the surface recombination coefficients are time dependent rather than constant, as has been previously assumed.