The use of extended-defect dissolution as a probe for stress-induced interstitial diffusion anisotropy

In this paper, the influence of biaxial strain-induced diffusion anisotropy on the evolution of extended defects in silicon has been analyzed. Point-defect diffusion anisotropy has been modeled and implemented within an atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo framework. The anneal of {3 1 1}-defects has been simulated for self-interstitial diffusion anisotropies varying within the plausible ranges. From these simulations, it is observed that diffusion anisotropy has a significant effect on the competition between defect ripening and dissolution. In particular, it is shown that the plot of {3 1 1} density versus {3 1 1} mean size could be used to check for the existence of self-interstitial diffusion anisotropy.