Surface diffusion within intergrain space is studied theoretically with the help of the Onsageristic approach of irreversible thermodynamics. The grains are treated as isotropic elastic half solids. It is assumed that species of one of the grains are capable to leave their equilibrium positions in the parent solid body and then they migrate within the inter-grain space along the surface of their parent body. Decrease of the total accumulated energy is postulated to be a driving force of the diffusion processes.

A model of solid-phase epitaxial growth (SPEG), explaining enhancing effects of ion-irradiation and dopants, is presented. The crystallization is by the adjustment of atomic positions in the amorphous side of the crystalline/amorphous (c-a) interface due to self-diffusion in the amorphous solid, assisted by a freeenergy decrease associated with the transformation from the amorphous (a) to crystalline (c) phase. Irradiation and electrically active dopants increase the selfdiffusivity of a-phase by generating point defects in the amorphous layer and thus enhance crystallization. An expression for the velocity of epitaxial growth is derived. The low activation energy of ion-induced SPEG is due to recombination of point defects in the a-phase.

The structure of a [001] tilt grain boundary Σ=25(710) in germanium was investigated by HREM as prepared and after sulfur segregation. The characterisation of Ge(S) system was performed using techniques such as Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy and radioactive tracer analysis. Before the sulfur introduction, this grain boundary is usually sensitive to the preferential etching during the TEM sample preparation which makes the observation difficult. This effect, depending on experimental conditions, can either partially or completely disappear. The interfacial structure as prepared and after annealing under argon or under hydrogen atmosphere can be described as a stacking of several structures with different energies. After sulfur segregation no preferential etching is observed because the lowest energy structure of the as prepared grain boundary is stabilized. The tilt angle and the plane of the grain boundary remain constant.

Au/n-Si Schottky barrier (SB) incorporated by hydrogen has a 0.13 eV lower SB height (SBH) than that without hydrogen incorporation. For the hydrogen-containing SB, zero bias annealing (ZBA) decreases the SBH while reverse bias annealing (RBA) increases it. Besides, the ZBA and RBA cycling experiments reveal a reversible change of the SBH with in at least three cycles. The higher annealing temperature of RBA results in higher SBH. We interpret the above experimental facts as that hydrogen has an effect on metal-semiconductor interface states and then on the SBH, and both the bias on SB and temperature of annealing can influence the hydrogen effects on metal-semiconductor interface states.

The results of comparison investigations of structural and electric parameters changes in silicon systems induced by pulsed magnetic field (MF) treatment (PMFT) are presented for the first time. The characteristics of (PMFT) that can induce considerable parameters changes of the silicon system were determined. Amplitudc of thc magnctic impulscs is 0.1-0.3 MA/m and duration of thc impulscs is 10-30 ms. The investigations were carried out by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis, C-V and DLTS spectroscopies. The PMFT induces the generation of A-centers in the near-surface region of silicon, the changes of the crystal lattice parameter and the concentration of free electrons and results in emergence of an extent structural microdefects in subsurface. The obtained experimental data testifies that PMFT is possible to increase the vacancy concentration at subsurface region of silicon.

It is shown that the carrier capture and emission rates by deep centers situated near an interface (crystal surface or heterojunction) dramatically increase.

Despite tremendous activity during the last few decades in the study of strain relaxation in thin films grown on substrates of a dissimilar material, there are still a number of problems which are unresolved. One of these is the nature of misfit dislocations forming at the film/substrate interface: depending on the misfit, the dislocations constituting the interfacial network have predominantly either in-plane or inclined Burgers vectors. While, the mechanisms of formation of misfit dislocations with inclined Burgers vectors are reasonably well understood, this is not the case for in-plane misfit dislocations whose formation mechanism is still controversial. In this paper, misfit dislocations generated to relax the strains caused by diffusion of boron into silicon have been investigated by plan-view and crosssectional transmission electron microscopy. The study of different stages of boron diffusion shows that, as in the classical model of Matthews, dislocation loops are initially generated at the epilayer surface. Subsequently the threading segments expand laterally and lay down a segment of misfit dislocation at the diffuse interface. The Burgers vector of the dislocation loop is inclined with respect to the interface and thus the initial misfit dislocations are not very efficient. However, as the diffusion proceeds, non-parallel dislocations interact and give rise to product segments that have parallel Burgers vectors. Based on the observations, a model is presented to elucidate the details of these interactions and the formation of more efficient misfit dislocations from the less-efficient inclined ones.

The formations of insulating material and voids at the interface between metal 1 and metal 2 in interconnect vias in Al-1%Si-0.25Cu% alloy has been investigated. A thin layer between metal 1 and 2 interface was identified using Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM). The material was analyzed using TEM with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX) confirming that the insulating layer was Silicon. It is believed that the via failure was due to the formation of silicon precipitate at the interface and the coalescence of voids after High Temperature Storage(HTS) test for a long time period. The formation of Si precipitate and the growth of voids at the interface of aluminum alloy in interconnect via is dependent on the grain structure. The formation of voids at via interface is related to thermal treatment position in backend process. A change of thermal treatment position has been made, and no via failure has been found after HTS test for 2000 hours. A model is proposed for the mechanism of the via open failure.