Thermal stress relaxation phenomenon through forming the interstitial region in CZ silicon pulled with rapid and slow cooling heat shields

Abstract

This review article aims to clarify a mechanism of point defects formation in a CZ Si crystal through an experimental arrangement using the two kinds of heat shields with different slow-pulling periods. Point defects in a melt grown silicon crystal have been studied for a long time. The author and his co-researchers have reported about “Mechanism for generating interstitial atoms by thermal stress during silicon crystal growth” [in Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials, 66 (2019) 36-46]. The experimental arrangement includes constant growing, changing pulling rate and finally detaching crystals from the melt. The two types of heat shields were used to change the cooling history of the grown crystals, for changing a temperature gradient at a bulk part in the grown crystal, G_b. In order to prove that the formation of an interstitial region or a boundary of vacancies (Vs)/interstitials (Is) in a silicon crystal is a phenomenon of relaxing thermal stress, the author explains that a G_b in a crystal forms thermal stress and causes some silicon atoms at lattice positions to move to the closest interstitial sites to relax the stress. The author defines a new term of metastable interstitial atom, I’, or I's as the plural of I’. The I’ coexists with the metastable vacancy V’ from where the I’ is displaced. The plural of V’ is defined to be V's. The author defines the above state to be a complex (I’+ V’), or (I ’+ V’)s as the plural of (I’+ V’), and explains that the (I’+ V’) s convert to Is and form the Is region. The (I’+ V’) is considered as the Frenkel pair-like complex.

The crystals were firstly pulled with a high pulling rate, and the pulling rate was consequently decreased to a slow one. Then the crystals were pulled with the slow constant pulling rate for different periods making different cooling processes. Finally, the grown crystals were detached from the melt and cooled rapidly. Characterization of defects, such as Vs, Is, and defect-free (D-F) regions were identified in X-ray topographs (XAOP(s)). Wafer lifetime mapping (WLTM(s)) allows confirming dislocation loop (DL) regions. The results show that the Is are generated depending on the pulling period of the slow pulling and the shapes of the heat shields. The Is and DL regions are formed in a region at temperatures near the melting point. The Is form an Is region through a defect-free (D-F) region, forming the Vs/Is boundary. When the thermal stress weakens, the DL region changes to the Is region; the Is region changes to the D-F region; and the D-F region changes to the Vs region. Temperature gradient distribution is induced toward various directions at different parts of the growing crystal depending on the different slow-pulling periods. The temperature gradient, G_b, includes a temperature gradient from the cooled region shaded by the heat shield to the growth interface and a temperature gradient from the upper surface cooled during the long-time growth to the growth interface. The G_b exceeding a certain threshold at near the melting point forms thermal stress, generating Is to relax the stress.