Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Stacking Fault Pyramids Formed in Multiple Oxygen Implanted Silicon-on-Insulator Material

The microstructure of various shapes of stacking fault pyramids (SFPs) formed in multiple implant/anneal Separation by Implanted Oxygen (SIMOX) material were investigated by plan-view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. In the multiple implant/anneal SIMOX, the defects in the top silicon layer are confined at the interface of the buried oxide layer at a density of ${\sim}10^6\;cm^{-2}$. The dominant defects are perfect and imperfect SFPs. The perfect SFPs were formed by the expansion and interaction of four dissociated dislocations on the {111} pyramidal planes. The imperfect SFPs show various shapes of SFPs, including I-, L-, and Y-shapes. The shape of imperfect SFPs may depend on the number of dissociated dislocations bounded to the top of the pyramid and the interaction of Shockley partial dislocations at each edge of {111} pyramidal planes.