Abstract
Supersaturated substitutional gold in silicon was annealed by two different methods. In one method, termed "ordinary annealing", the specimen was pulled out of the furnace after the indiffusion of gold and cooled rapidly to room temperature, and then heat treated again for annealing. In the other method, termed "continuous annealing", the specimen was kept in the furnace after the indiffusion, the temperature of the furnace was reset at the annealing temperature, and then the annealing was carried out. It was found that whether the specimen temperature was allowed to drop below 850°C or not after the indiffusion was an important factor in the annealing. It was deduced that substitutional gold has three states: high-temperature substitutional gold, low-temperature substitutional gold and agglomerates of substitutional gold.