The Role of Carbon and Point Defects in Silicon

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn overview of the behavior of intrinsic point defects in silicon and their interaction with carbon is given for temperatures above about 500° C. The diffusive mechanism of carbon in silicon, which involves silicon self-interstitials, is treated in some detail and compared with the diffusion mechanism of oxygen. The solubility of interstitial carbon is estimated. Co-precipitation of carbon and self-interstitials or oxygen are dealt with in terms of simple volume considerations. It is proposed that the contradicting results on the influence of intrinsic point defect supersaturations on oxygen nucleation and precipitation may possibly be explained in the frame-work of opposite effects depending on the carbon concentration. Finally the influence of carbon on the incorporation and diffusion of gold in silicon is discussed.