Interaction between a monovacancy and a vacancy cluster in silicon

Abstract
The interaction between two vacancies has been investigated in silicon by molecular-dynamics simulations. We introduce the concept of capture radius rc, according to which the most stable configuration for a vacancy pair is a bound divacancy whenever the two defects are placed at distances smaller than rc. We also investigate the trapping mechanism of a monovacancy at a vacancy complex and discuss the energetics of early stages of aggregation of small vacancy clusters.