The vacancy in silicon: Identical diffusion properties at cryogenic and elevated temperatures

The vacancy contribution to self-diffusion in silicon, recently revealed in the study by Shimitzu et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 095901 (2007)], is analyzed to demonstrate that the pre-exponential term, as well as the enthalpy term, matches accurately to that of the isolated neutral vacancy, as determined many years earlier at cryogenic temperatures by electron paramagnetic resonance and deep level transient spectroscopy. The persistent suggestion of an “extended” vacancy with very different migrational properties at elevated temperatures is therefore incorrect. There is only one vacancy.