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The Czochralski process

A puller rod with seed crystal for growing single-crystal silicon by the Czochralski process

The Czochralski process is a method of crystal growth used to obtain single crystals of semiconductors (e.g. silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide), metals (e.g. palladium, platinum, silver, gold), salts and some man made, (or "lab") gemstones.

The most important application may be the growth of large cylindrical ingots, or boules, of single crystal silicon. High-purity, semiconductor-grade silicon (only a few parts per million of impurities) is melted down in a crucible , which is usually made of quartz. Dopant impurity atoms such as boron or phosphorus can be added to the molten intrinsic silicon in precise amounts in order to dope the silicon, thus changing it into n-type or p-type extrinsic silicon. This influences the electrical conductivity of the silicon. A seed crystal, mounted on a rod, is dipped into the molten silicon. The seed crystal's rod is pulled upwards and rotated at the same time. By precisely controlling the temperature gradients, rate of pulling and speed of rotation, it is possible to extract a large, single-crystal, cylindrical ingot from the melt. This process is normally performed in an inert atmosphere, such as argon, and in an inert chamber, such as quartz.

While the largest silicon ingots produced today are 400 mm in diameter and 1 to 2 metres in length, 200 mm and 300 mm diameter crystals are standard industrial processes. Thin silicon wafers are cut from these ingots (typically about 0.2 - 0.75 mm thick) and can be polished to a very high flatness for making integrated circuits, or textured for making solar cells. Other semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide, can also be grown by this method, although lower defect densities in this case can be obtained using variants of the Bridgeman technique.

When silicon is grown by the Czochralski method the melt is contained in a silica (quartz) crucible. During growth the walls of the crucible dissolve into the melt and Czochralski silicon therefore contains oxygen impurities with a typical concentration of 10¹⁸cm ^{− 3}. Perhaps surprisingly, oxygen impurities can have beneficial effects. Carefully chosen annealing conditions can allow the formation of oxygen precipitates. These have the effect of trapping unwanted transition metal impurities in a process known as gettering. Additionally, oxygen impurities can improve the mechanical strength of silicon wafers by immobilising any dislocations which may be introduced during device processing. It has experimentally been proved in the 1990s that the high oxygen concentration is also beneficial for radiation hardness of silicon particle detectors used in harsh radiation environment ( eg. CERN's LHC/S-LHC projects)^[1][2][3] Therefore, radiation detectors made of Czochralski- and Magnetic Czochralski-silicon are considered to be promising candidates for many future high-energy physics experiments.^[4][5] However, oxygen impurities can react with boron in an illuminated environment, such as experienced by solar cells. This results in the formation of an electrically active boron–oxygen complex that detracts from cell performance. Module output drops by approximately 3% during the first few hours of light exposure. ^[6]

Occurrence of unwanted instabilities in the melt can be avoided by investigating and visualizing the temperature and velocity fields during the crystal growth process.^[7]

The process is named after Polish scientist Jan Czochralski, who discovered the method in 1916 while investigating the crystallization rates of metals.

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Czochralski method

Crucibles used in Czochralski method

Crucible after being used

Silicon ingot

1. ^ Z. Li et al., IEEE Trans Nucl. Sci. 39 (6) (1992) 1730
2. ^ A. Ruzin et al., IEEE Trans Nucl. Sci. 46 (5) (1999) 1310
3. ^ G. Lindström et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 466 (2001) 308 and cited literature therein.
4. ^ CERN RD50 Status Report 2004, CERN-LHCC-2004-031 and LHCC-RD-005 and cited literature therein
5. ^ J. Härkönen et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 541 (2005)202.
6. ^ Eikelboom, J.A., Jansen, M.J., 2000. Characteristion of PV modules of new generations; results of tests and simulations. Report ECN-C-00-067, 18.
7. ^ J. Aleksic et al., Ann. of NY Academy of Sci. 972 (2002) 158.

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• Bridgeman technique
• Float-zone silicon
• Czochralski doping process