Transport mechanism of interfacial network forming atoms during silicon oxidation

A first-principles study on the energetics of the structural transformation a, the interface, revealed that oxygen vacancies can accompany the high density oxide regions formed during the silicon oxidation. The vacancies can also promote the effective out-migration of these regions, which allows the easier oxide viscous flow to release the interfacial strain. Compared with this mechanism, self-interstitials are rarely formed in the silicon substrate. These results also suggest defect formation mechanisms around the interfaces.