Dislocation Sources and Interactions in Silicon

An investigation of dislocation sources in silicon deformed by thermal shock has been made by means of X-ray topography. Deformation occurs by means of surface and internal planar dislocation sources. The dislocations are in 60 degrees or pure screw orientation except in regions of high dislocation density. The sources belong to the three {l l l} planes inclined to the surface (also a (111) plane). Nearly all Burgers vectors were in the plane of the slice, but a few inclined pure screw dislocations and Lomer dislocations were also observed. Both single and double-ended sources were present, the majority being single-ended. Their configurations (which were usually complex) and some associated dislocation interactions are discussed.