Crystal Growth

Czochralski and Float-Zone Crystal Growth

Methods

Raw Silicon
Silicon is a very abundant material,
representing about 25.7% of the earths
crust.
Two Steps : Refining and Crystallization
Raw material : Quartzite (a type of sand)
SiO

Metallurgical Grade Silicon

(MGS)

Quartzite
(MGS)

Metallurgical Grade Silicon

2C ( solid ) is
SiOmaintained
( solid ) Si (liquid
Temperature
at ) 2CO
MGS : 98% Silicon (Al and Fe being
2000 C
impurities)
MGS is mostly for Industrial use of silicon

Electronic Grade Silicon

Chemical Reaction
MGS HCl (3 gas ) SiH SiH Cl SiHCl SiCl
4

Formation of
most commonly used
SiHCl
today
Tricholorosilane is boiled and impurities are
separated from it.
Chemical Vapor Deposition is done to get
Polysilicon

2 SiHCl ( gas ) 2 H ( gas ) 2 Si ( solid ) 6 HCl ( gas )

3

Czochralski Crystal Growth

EGS placed in silica
crucible
Melting temperature :
1417 C
CZ crystal puller
Single-crystal seed
Seed orientation
Dopant Concentration
Diameter of the
crystal depends on
the rate at which the
crystal is pulled

Float Zone Crystal Growth

No crucible is used
Reduces impurity level
Especially oxygen impurity is reduced and
more high resistivity material
Detectors and Power Devices
Diameters of float-zone wafers are
generally not greater than 150mm

Float Zone Crystal Growth

A polycrystalline rod of ultra-pure electronic grade

silicon is passed through an RF heating coil, which
creates a localized molten zone from which the crystal
ingot grows. Aseed crystalis used at one end in order
to start the growth. The whole process is carried out in
an evacuated chamber or in an inert gas purge. The
molten zone carries the impurities away with it and
hence reduces impurity concentration (most impurities
are more soluble in the melt than the crystal).
Specialized doping techniques like core doping, pill
doping, gas doping and neutron transmutation doping
are used to incorporate a uniform concentration of
impurity.

Comparison between CZ
and FZ
Characteristic
Growth Speed (mm/min)
Dislocation-Free?
Crucible?
Consumable Material Cost
Heat-Up/Cool-Down Times
Axial Resistivity Uniformity
Oxygen Content (atoms/cm3)
Carbon Content (atoms/cm3)
Metallic Impurity Content
Bulk Minority Charge Carrier
Lifetime(s)
Mechanical Strengthening
Production Diameter (mm)
Operator Skill
Polycrystalline Si Feed Form

CZ
1 to 2
Yes
Yes
High
Long
Poor
>1x1018
>1x1017
Higher
5-100

FZ
3 to 5
Yes
No
Low
Short
Good
<1x1016
<1x1016
Lower
1,000-20,000

1017Oxygen
150-200
Less
Any

1015Nitrogen
100-150
More
Crack-free rod

Wafer Preparation
Cutting Wafers
Thickness Sorting
Lapping Process
Etching Process
Thickness sorting and Flatness Checking
Polishing Processes
Final Dimensional and Electrical Properties
qualification