The fine structure of dislocations in silicon

For high stress deformed specimens containing dislocations in a nonequilibrium dissociation state the relaxation of the splitting width by annealing at very low temperatures (100°C to 140°C) is investigated by TEM measurements. As the formation of new double kinks is prevented by the low temperature, the motion of the partials is a result of the motion of existing kinks. Assuming the kink migration energy being equal for the 30° and for the 90° partial its value is found between 1 and 1.2 eV. Additional TEM observations of relaxation phenomena changing the dislocation arrangement at higher annealing temperatures are reported.