Gettering of Au to dislocations and cavities in silicon

The gettering of ion implanted Au to defects in Si has been studied using Rutherford backscattering and channeling and transmission electron microscopy. Damage from a Si implant anneals into dislocations which can efficiently trap diffusing Au. The damage introduced by a H implant evolves during annealing into cavities which getter close to 100% of the Au, leaving very little Au in solution. This process is driven by the diffusion of a supersaturated solid solution of Au to a favorable sink. The internal surfaces of cavities are the most favorable sink, followed by dislocations and then the Si surface.