Transient enhanced diffusion in low energy arsenic implanted silicon

As⁺ implanted Si has been investigated using a combination of SIMS, TEM and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). As the energy decreases from 5 to 3 keV it is found that no extended defects form in the EOR region upon 750°C annealing or higher. It is also found that TED increases dramatically for both implant energies as the annealing temperature decreases from 1050°C to 700°C, with enhancements in diffusivity increasing from ~1 to >1000. TED is very similar independent of implant energy implying the extended defects in the end of range region are not the source of the interstitials. Using a careful CMP lapping experiment in combination with spectroscopic ellipsometry, it is shown that the formation of As interstitial clusters (AsICs) is the most likely reason for the lack of extended defects in the EOR region as well as the observed TED