Generation and motion of dislocations in nitrogen-doped silicon singlecrystals

Abstract

Characteristic peculiarities of the generation and propagation of dislocations innitrogen-doped silicon wafers (grown by the Czochralski method) wereinvestigated by the four-point bending method. The critical stresses for thedislocation generation and dislocation velocity in nitrogen crystals are less than innon-doped crystals for equal loads. It was proposed that the strengtheningof nitrogen-doped crystals is caused by the influence of nitrogen on thedecomposition of the supersaturated oxygen solid solution during the cooling ofthe growing single crystals. As a result, many dispersed oxygen precipitates aregenerated in the crystal volume and harden it by hindering dislocation generationand propagation.