Features of defect formation under the thermal treatment of dislocation-free single-crystal large-diameter silicon wafers with the specified distribution of oxygen-containing gettering centers in the bulk

Abstract

Possibilities of obtaining a defect-free layer in wafers of dislocation-free single-crystal silicon subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) are analyzed. The application of RTA is based on the possibility of effectively affecting the distribution profile of the density of oxygen precipitates over the wafer thickness by means of controlling the distribution profiles of the vacancies and interstitial atoms. However, the solution of this important task encounters the problem of the appearance of large local stresses in the vicinity of the fastening supports of a large-diameter silicon wafer and its bending in the course of RTA, which are caused by its own weight. Using mathematical modeling of the three-dimensional stress-strain state and defect formation in large-diameter silicon wafers in the course of RTA, various methods of fastening the wafers are considered and the possibilities of lowering the stress-strain state of the silicon wafer are determined. A mathematical model taking into account the diffusion-recombination processes of vacancies and interstitial silicon atoms, as well as the formation of vacancy clusters is proposed to describe the defect formation in the course of RTA. Based on this model, temperature-temporal parameters of RTA, which correspond to the required (depleted near the surface) concentration profile of the vacancies and the density and size of the vacancy clusters over the wafer thickness, are determined (heating time, holding time at the highest temperature, the cooling rate of the wafer). The results of the calculations are verified for test samples using optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (OM and TEM).