Modeling the Early Stages of Oxygen Agglomeration

Abstract

The results of ab initio calculations and rate equation modeling of the early stages of oxide precipitation are compared with the results of highly sensitive FTIR spectrometry of oxygen and vacancy oxygen containing complexes in silicon after RTA treatment. The ab initio calculations have shown that the binding energy of interstitial oxygen in VO n is higher than in O n for n d 6. For higher n, the energy gain is comparable. The point defect species O 1 , O 2 , O 3 , and VO 4 were detected by highly sensitive FTIR in high oxygen Czochralski silicon wafers after RTA at 1250 °C. The concentrations obtained from the ab initio modeling approach for I, V, O n with n = (1-4) and VO n with n = (1-8) without fitting parameters are in good agreement with the experimental data for O 1 , O 2 , O 3 , and VO 4 as determined by highly sensitive FTIR.

Peculiarity of Electric Properties of Oxygen‐Implanted Silicon at Early Precipitation Stages

“…Recently, it was reported that, in vacancy-rich regions of oxygen-contained silicon annealed at 700 C, there were two competitive processes: binding vacancy with interstitial oxygen forming VO n complexes (2 < n < 6) [31,32] or forming nanosized voids (noids) with dimensions about several nanometers due to vacancy coalescence. [33,34] It was noted that the noids could act as heterogeneous sites for metal impurities or as nucleation centers for OPs, but their getter efficiency was destroyed at annealing temperatures more or equal 800 C. At the same time, clusters of some VO n complexes could cause oxygen precipitation process at prolonged treatment at high temperature as well.…”

Getter Effects in Low Oxygen and High Oxygen Czochralski Silicon Wafers

“…This leads to the effect that during RTA cooling, when the Frenkel pairs recombine again, the vacancies supersaturate. In wafers with high concentration of interstitial oxygen, the excess vacancies bind to oxygen by forming VO n complexes (5). These complexes can act as nucleation centers for oxygen precipitation (6).…”