On the nature of plastic deformation generated by hydrostatic pressure in silicon single crystals

Abstract

Macroscopic plastic deformation of silicon single crystals, caused by annealing at hydrostatic pressure and high temperature, was studied by X-ray topography and transmission electron microscopy. The analysis is given of elastic and thermal properties of material around surface cracks and scratches from which deformation process is propagated. The idea of elastic misfit between damaged self-strained material at cracks and scratches and defect-free silicon matrix, is introduced. On the basis of theoretical and experimental data it is concluded that the plastic deformation of silicon at high pressure consists of two processes. The first is a loss of coherency of cracks and scratches by the emission of dislocations at misfitting second phase precipitates present in silicon. The second is the macroscopic yielding from incoherent cracks and scratches at lower elastic strain energies.

The presented mechanism explains also the deformation behaviour of silicon crystals subjected to tensile stress at high temperatures; the generation and propagation of dislocations at oxide precipitates before the macroscopic yielding [3].