Quantitative TEM of Point Defects in Si

We review the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to provide a quantitative measurement of both vacancy and interstitial clusters in ion implanted silicon. Interstitials agglomerate into rod-like defects on {311} planes, and the evaporation of these defects can be directly correlated to the diffusion enhancements observed during annealing of ion-damaged silicon. Vacancy clusters are easily detected in TEM once they have been labeled using a Au-diffusion technique. The combination of the two approaches provides a quantitative test for models of implantation and annealing in silicon. Detailed models for point defect behavior, which include Ostwald-ripening and the surface recombination velocity, reproduce all of the crucial features of the observed defect annealing.