Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis of {311} defects from Si implantation into silicon

Transient enhanced diffusion (TED) below the amorphization dose threshold is thought to be caused by the release of interstitials from {311} defects. The interstitials are annihilated by diffusion to and then recombination with the surface of the wafer. This would suggest that the layer of {311} defects formed from an implantation and anneal would dissolve from the surface down. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate this hypothesis. It is shown that the {311} defects dissolve uniformly across the layer, and the width of the layer does not change until the {311} defects nearly completely dissolve. The total population was also measured using plan-view TEM, so that the dissolution and distribution functions could be plotted from the same annealing conditions. These data suggest that surface is not the limiting factor in the interstitial removal from {311} defects. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)00320-9].