Dissolution kinetics of B clusters in crystalline Si

Boron (B) clustering in crystalline Si induced by interaction with Si self-interstitials is a widely studied phenomenon of fundamental importance for Si micro- and nano-electronic technology. The requested B activation increase brings the B concentration to a very high level and a detailed understanding of B clustering at high concentration is demanded. In the present work we present some recent results regarding the B clustering process starting from B concentration both below and above the B solubility limit. We show that B clusters, produced by self-interstitial interaction with substitutional B in crystalline Si, dissolve under annealing according to two distinct paths with very different characteristic times. The two regimes generally coexist, but while the faster dissolution path is predominant for clusters formed at low B concentration (1 × 1019 B/cm3), the slower one is characteristic of clusters formed above the solubility limit and dominates the dissolution process at high B concentration (2 × 1020 B/cm3). The activation energies of both processes are characterized and discussed. It is shown that the faster path can be connected to a direct emission of mobile B from small clusters, while the slower path is demonstrated not to be self-interstitial limited and it is probably related to a more complex cluster dissolution process.