Effects of interstitial clustering on transient enhanced diffusion of boron in silicon

A simulation model for Boron diffusion which takes into account the aggregation of the excess interstitials in clusters, and subsequently, the dissolution of these defects, is proposed. The interstitial supersaturation and generation rate are determined according to the classical theory of nucleation and growth of particles, in analogy with the precipitation of a new phase in heavily doped silicon. The clusters are considered as precipitates formed by interstitial Si atoms. The B diffusion is modelled on the basis of the dopant-interstitial pair diffusion mechanism. The clusters dissolution during annealing maintains nearly constant, for a long period, the interstitial supersaturation and the related enhancement of the boron diffusion. This gives a good account of the diffusion results over a large range of experimental conditions. Furthermore, this approach describes most of the behavior of the transient enhanced diffusion (TED), like the temperature dependence of the level of the B diffusion enhancement, the dependence of the duration of the phenomenon on implanted dose, and the scarce dependence on the damage distribution in depth. The results of the simulations are compared with experimental data on the kinetics of interstitial cluster dissolution and of B TED.