Oxygen Precipitation Behavior in 300 mm Polished Czorchralski Silicon Wafers

Abstract

The oxygen precipitation behavior in large diameter (300 mm) Czochralski silicon polished wafers with initial oxygen concentrations between 25–36 parts per million atomic and low carbon content, has been studied following two heat‐treatments (low‐high annealing). It was found that an oxygen precipitation retardation and recovery phenomena occured. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed that extended defect formation is drastically changed from punched‐out dislocations in precipitate retardation samples, to stacking faults in precipitation recovery samples. The precipitation retardation phenomenon is consistent with a previous model on smaller diameter wafers; however, the current experimental results for 300 mm wafers indicate platelet precipitate growth during the first low temperature annealing plays a key role in the oxygen precipitation recovery phenomenon. © 1999 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.