Point defects, diffusion processes, and swirl defect formation in silicon
The paper consists of three parts. In the first part the authors review the basic experimental and theoretical results which shaped the present knowledge on point defects and diffusion processes in silicon. These results concern on one side oxidation effects which established that silicon self-interstitials and vacancies coexist in silicon and on the other side diffusion of gold into dislocation-free silicon which allow the self-interstitial contribution to silicon self-diffusion to be determined and the corresponding vacancy contribution to be estimated. In the second part the authors discuss topics for which an understanding is just emerging within the framework of coexisting self-interstitials and vacancies: the reaching of local dynamical equilibrium between self-interstitials and vacancies; rough estimates of the thermal equilibrium concentrations of self-interstitials and vacancies and their respective diffusivities, and finally, various possibilities to generate an undersaturation of self-interstitials. In the third part they examine swirl defect formation in silicon in terms of vacancies and self-interstitials
