Quantification of Defect Dynamics in Unsteady-State and Steady-State Czochralski Growth of Monocrystalline Silicon

Abstract

Most common microdefects in Czochralski silicon, voids and dislocation loops, are formed by agglomeration of point defects, vacancies, and self-interstitials, respectively. Dynamics of formation and growth of the microdefects along with the entire crystal pulling process is simulated. The Frenkel reaction, the transport and nucleation of the point defects, and the growth of the microdefects are considered to occur simultaneously. The nucleation is modeled using the classical nucleation theory. The microdefects are approximated as spherical clusters, which grow by a diffusion-limited kinetics. The microdefect distribution at any given location is captured on the basis of the formation and path histories of the clusters. The microdefect type and size distributions in crystals grown under various steady states as well as unsteady states are predicted. The developed one-dimensional model captures the salient features of defect dynamics and reveals significant differences between the steady-state defect dynamics and the unsteady-state defect dynamics. The model predictions agree very well with the experimental observations. Various predictions of the model are presented, and results are discussed. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.