Oxygen-Related Defects in Silicon

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Abstract
In this review we focus on oxygen-related defects created by electron irradiation (vacancy-oxygen defects) and subsequent thermal treatments. The annealing of the vacancy-oxygen pair (VO-center) at 300–350 °C is discussed as well as results from the formation and annealing of the successors to VO, the VO2 and VO3-centers. It -s found that VO2 is formed by diffusion of a vacancy-oxygen pair to an interstitial oxygen atom. It is suggested that VO3 is formed by the diffusion of interstitial oxygen to a VO2-center (in the temperature range 450–485 °C). At continued annealing at these temperatures VO3 is transferred to a new defect VO4 by attaching one more oxygen. Simultaneously thermal donors are developing in a normal way i.e. as in an unirradiated sample. It is therefore concluded that VO2 is not an important core for thermal donors but a possible nucleus for oxygen precipitation.