Study of Flow Pattern Defects and Oxidation Induced Stacking Faults in Czochralski Single-Crystal Silicon Growth

This paper emphasizes that the furnace pressure, crucible rotation, and pulling rate have important effects on interstitial oxygen (O-i) concentrations and micro-defects during growth in a Czochralski single-crystal silicon (CZ-Si) growth furnace. Since oxygen in a silicon ingot influences minority carrier lifetime, different set-points of furnace pressure and crucible rotation were controlled to achieve different degrees of O-i. The O-i content has a positive correlation with furnace pressure and crucible rotation. Various numbers of micro-defects were generated under the influence of different pulling rates, owing to the transformation from liquid to solid. The sample also underwent Secco etching and a high-temperature wet oxidation to observe defects caused by the O-i concentration and pulling rate, namely, flow pattern defects (FPDs) and oxidation-induced stacking faults (OISFs). Optical microscopy was employed to confirm the surface topography, and for defect number counting, to observe the correlation between the defects and the minority carrier lifetime. The overall results show that the minority carrier lifetime is mainly dominated by OISFs under high O-i content and FPDs under low O-i content. Therefore, growth using a CZ-Si growth furnace should be carried out with low furnace pressure, low crucible rotation, and low pulling rate to reduce micro-defects.

Automated summary

This paper highlights the effects of furnace pressure, crucible rotation, and pulling rate on interstitial oxygen (O-i) concentrations and micro-defects during growth in a Czochralski single-crystal silicon (CZ-Si) growth furnace. Different set-points of furnace pressure and crucible rotation were controlled to achieve different degrees of O-i, which was found to have a positive correlation with furnace pressure and crucible rotation. The influence of different pulling rates on the formation of micro-defects was also investigated, with the transformation from liquid to solid being responsible for their generation. The study concludes that growth using a CZ-Si growth furnace should be carried out with low furnace pressure, low crucible rotation, and low pulling rate to reduce micro-defects.