Vacancy self-trapping during rapid thermal annealing of silicon wafers

Abstract

The density and spatial distribution of oxide precipitates within a crystalline silicon wafer is of paramount importance for microelectronic device yield. In this letter, the authors show how the formation of previously unconsidered, very small vacancy aggregates can explain macroscopic spatial variations in the oxide precipitate density, which are observed following certain rapid thermal annealing conditions. The formation of these nanometer-sized voids is predicted on the basis of their recent model for vacancy aggregation that accounts for high temperature entropic effects.

Getter Effects in Low Oxygen and High Oxygen Czochralski Silicon Wafers

“…Frewen et al used these data to try to find an explanation for this phenomenon (4). They assumed that the BMD density after BMD growth steps is either a function of the concentration of free vacancies or the concentration of VO 2 after the RTA step.…”

Effects of high temperature rapid thermal processing on oxygen precipitation in heavily arsenic-doped Czochralski silicon

“…With the prior RTP at 1250 1C, the vacancies with a concentration in the orders of a few 10 12 -10 13 cm À 3 are introduced into the silicon wafer [14,15]. In this case, as the heavily As-doped Cz silicon is subjected to the nucleation anneal at 800 1C, OP nucleation is facilitated by the O 2 V complexes that are formed during the cooling process of RTP, as is the case in the lightly doped Cz silicon.…”

Interaction of Radiation‐Induced Self‐Interstitials with Vacancy‐Oxygen Related Defects VnO2 (n from 1 to 3) in Silicon

“…The VO 2 defect plays an important role in processes of aggregation of oxygen atoms and vacancies during growth of silicon crystals by Czochralski techniques and upon formation of oxide films and oxygen precipitates in Cz‐Si wafers . Therefore, the formation and elimination mechanisms and properties of this center have been extensively studied .…”