Behavior of dislocations in silicon in the presence of mechanical and magnetic perturbations

Abstract

Various types of dislocation stoppers are identified and their basic parameters are determined. Using dislocation loops as an example, the effect of internal stresses on the motion of linear defects in n-and p-Si in the field of external elastic forces is estimated. It is found that preliminary magnetic treatment of silicon plates activates the dislocation transport. In the absence of external mechanical loads, displacement of dislocation half-loops (30–50 μm) in the nonuniform field of internal stresses in a silicon crystal with a scratch (stress concentrator) is detected experimentally during isothermal annealing for 0.5–3 h at a temperature of 600–700°C. Dislocation transport is described taking into account the intrinsic (lattice) potential barrier of the crystal and two types of stoppers on the basis of magnetosensitive point defects (dopant) and “forest” dislocations. A kinetic model is proposed for describing the magnetostimulated variation of the mobility of linear defects associated with the formation of long-lived complexes with a paramagnetic impurity. It is found experimentally that the velocity of dislocations in n-and p-Si increases by a factor of 2 and 3, respectively, upon treatment of the semiconductor in a magnetic field B=1 T for 5–45 min. The “magnetic memory” effect in silicon containing dislocations is detected and kinetic aspects of the effect under natural conditions of sample storage after the removal of the magnetic field are considered. Partial velocities of dislocations and their delay times at various types of stoppers are calculated from the matching of experiment with theory.