The Role of Electrilcally Active and Inactive Donators in the Oxidation Rate Enhancement of Silicon

Steam oxidation of highly n-doped silicon (As, P) has been investigated. For both dopants an enhanced oxide growth was observed at temperatures from 700 to 800°C. While the mostly accepted model attributes the enhancement entirely to the electrically active dopants, our experiments confirm the recently published finding that the electrically inactive dopants strongly influence the oxide growth. However, the importance of the degree of electrical activity was verified as well. Hence, both, electrically active and inactive dopants have to be considered.