Precipitation of Oxygen and Mechanism of Stacking Fault Formation in Czochralski Silicon Bulk Crystals

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper describes recent progress on nucleation and growth of oxide precipitates and stacking faults in Czochralski silicon. Conclusions on the growth kinetics of oxide precipitates are drawn from the experiments and analysis of growth kinetics of two-dimensional precipitates: The experimentally obtained growth kinetics, three-quarter power law is theoretically derived and the precipitate growth is demonstrated to be diffusion-limited by oxygen interstitials. The formation mechanism of stacking faults is the Bardeen-Herring mechanism. Based on diffusional growth model, the growth kinetics of stacking faults are analyzed, assuming a coexistence of self-interstitial supersaturation and vacancy undersaturation. It is found that the growth is driven by vacancies in undersaturation. Vacancy component of self-diffusion has been determined and found to be predominant at low temperature. The possibility of growth model proposed for increase of oxide precipitate density during annealing has been excluded. Both processes, homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, have been taking place during annealing.