Simulation of stress effects on reaction kinetics and oxidant diffusion in silicon oxidation

A general two-dimensional (2D) silicon oxidation program has been developed to investigate an oxidation model which includes stress-dependent physical parameters. A simple 2D extension of the Deal-Grove model is inadequate, especially for high stress processes, such as the SILO process and oxidation of stepped silicon. Inclusion of a stress-dependent surface-reaction-rate model produces accurate oxide profiles for many different oxidation processes. Inclusion of the stress effect on the oxidant diffusivity has little effect on the oxide profile unless the oxide is thick enough to be in a diffusion-limited oxidation regime.