Shrinkage of Grown-in Defects in Czochralski Silicon During Thermal Annealing in Vacuum

Abstract

We examined the effect of thermal annealing in vacuum on the behavior of dual-type octahedral void defects in Czochralski silicon. We found that the smaller void shrinks first at about 1100°C and that during the shrinkage of the smaller void to extinction, the bigger void maintains its structure and size. In addition, we found that shrinkage of the smaller void begins from the adjacent region between the two voids. We believe that the effect of minimizing the surface energy first takes place selectively in the smaller void and that after the extinction of the smaller void, the effect of minimizing the surface energy takes place in the bigger void.