Theory of Enhanced Migration of Interstitial Aluminum in Silicon

Abstract

Self-consistent electronic structure calculations are reported for Al at two interstitial locations in silicon. On the basis of these calculations, a novel mechanism for enhanced interstitial migration is proposed in which electron capture can cause a barrier lowering appreciably greater than $E_G$, the energy gap. The model and the present numerical results are in good agreement with recent measurements by Troxell et al.