This dissertation considers dislocation creation in single crystal silicon slices due to thermal oxidation. The presence of thermally induced dislocations has been found to influence the capacitance vs. bias voltage characteristic of a MOS (metal-oxide-silicon) capacitor using a thermally grown silicon dioxide layer as the dielectric. MOS capacitors fabricated on a dislocated region of silicon exhibit low frequency characteristic when measurements are made at high frequency (1 KH2.). A stress model has been developed to calculate the average stress associated with the bending of silicon slices when the oxide from one side is etched off. The coefficient of linear thermal expansion for silicon dioxide grown in steam and wet O₂ ambients is also calculated. Based upon the experimental information obtained, optimum conditions for thermal oxidation of single crystal silicon slices that result in minimum dislocation density and low interface stresses are proposed and discussed. Thermal oxidation in a wet O₂ ambient has been found very suitable. It is shown that slow cooling after thermal oxidation results in a 30 percent reduction in the average interface stresses normally generated when fast cooling is used
