Interstitial iron concentrations across multicrystalline silicon wafers via photoluminescence imaging

We present high‐resolution images of the lateral distribution of interstitial iron across wafers from various positions along the length of a directionally solidified multicrystalline silicon ingot. Iron images were taken on wafers in the as‐cut state and also after two different phosphorus gettering steps performed at 845°C for 30 min, one with an additional anneal at 600°C for 5 h (referred to as extended gettering). The iron images were obtained by taking calibrated photoluminescence (PL) images of the low injection carrier lifetimes, before and after dissociation of iron–boron pairs via strong illumination. The iron images clearly reveal the internal gettering of iron during ingot cooling to grain boundaries and dislocation clusters, resulting in much lower dissolved iron concentrations at those features. In contrast, the PL images of gettered wafers exhibit a reversed distribution of dissolved iron compared to the as‐cut wafers, in other words, with higher interstitial iron concentrations at the grain boundaries than within the grains, most probably owing to the precipitated iron at the grain boundaries partly dissolving during the high‐temperature gettering process. Phosphorus gettering was found to result in a significant reduction of interstitial iron both inside the grains and at grain boundaries. The extended gettering resulted in a further significant reduction in all parts of the wafers and along all sections of the ingot. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

直拉硅中氧沉淀的TEM研究

论述了使用透射电镜来研究氧沉淀的形态与热处理温度和时间的关系.对氧沉淀的生成动力学,研究的现状和存在的问题以及发展前景也进行了讨论.     

Gettering in multicrystalline silicon wafers with screen‐printed emitters

In this paper, the gettering potential of phosphorus dopant pastes used in single‐sided screen‐printing processes is investigated including the consequences for essential solar cell parameters. These results are supported by minority carrier lifetime measurements with the quasi‐steady‐state photoconductance method and certified by the analysis of the recombination current density in solar cells on mc‐Si wafers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhanced performance in the deteriorated area of multicrystalline silicon wafers by internal gettering

The deteriorated area of the multicrystalline silicon (mc‐Si) ingots grown by directional solidification, commonly known as the Red Zone, is usually removed before wafering. This area, characterized by poor minority carrier lifetime, is located on the sides, at the top, and the bottom of the mc‐Si ingots. In this study, the effect of internal gettering by oxygen precipitates and structural defects has been investigated on the bottom zone of a mc‐Si ingot. Nucleation and growth of oxygen precipitates as well as low temperature annealing were studied. Photoluminescence imaging, lifetime mapping, and interstitial iron measurements performed by μ‐PCD reveal a considerable reduction of the bottom Red Zone. An improvement of lifetime from below 1 µs to about 20 µs and a reduction of interstitial iron concentration from 1.32 × 10¹³ at/cm³ to 8.4 × 10¹⁰ at/cm³ are demonstrated in this paper. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phosphorus gettering of iron by screen‐printed emitters in monocrystalline Czochralski silicon wafers

In this paper, we demonstrate single‐sided screen‐printed emitters in thin monocrystalline Czochralski silicon (Cz‐Si) wafers with an improved gettering of iron compared with conventional double‐sided POCl₃ emitters. The phosphorus dopant pastes used have to be chosen carefully to provide a sufficiently low emitter sheet resistance and to avoid iron contamination. The iron concentration is determined in a non‐destructive way from the minority carrier lifetime obtained by quasi‐steady‐state photoconductance measurements, down to levels not yet demonstrated for screen‐printed emitters. In addition, the well‐known metastable boron–oxygen complexes in Cz‐Si have been transferred into a stable state by light‐induced degradation prior to these measurements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of oxygen on crystallization of amorphous silicon films and polysilicon TFT characteristics

Oxygen ions were implanted into the amorphous silicon film deposited at 540°C in order to study the effects of oxygen on the solid phase crystallization of silicon films. The resulting films were investigated using transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and also by measuring the electrical characteristics of polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) fabricated in the crystallized films. The development of {111} texture as a function of annealing time is similar to films implanted with Si, with higher oxygen samples showing more texture. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the grain size of completely crystallized films varies little with oxygen concentration. The electrical performances of TFTs are found to degrade with increasing oxygen dose. The trap state density increases from 5.6 × 10¹²/cm² to 9.5 × 10¹²/cm² with increasing oxygen dose. It is concluded that for a high performance TFT, oxygen incorporation in the Si film should be kept to 10¹⁹/cm³ or less.     

快速退火气氛对300mm CZ硅片吸杂效应和表面微观结构的影响

研究了N2和N2/NH3混合气两种不同气氛快速退火处理硅片对洁净区和氧沉淀分布的影响.研究发现:N2/NH3混合气氛处理的硅片在后序热处理中表层形成很薄的洁净区同时体内形成高密度的氧沉淀;而N2气氛处理的硅片的沽净区较厚、氧沉淀密度较低.但是两种气氛下延长恒温时间都可以降低洁净区厚度,增加氧沉淀密度.X射线光电子能谱和原子力显微镜扫描的结果显示N2/NH3混合气氛处理使表面出现了强烈的氮化反应,利用氮化反应町以解释快速退火气氛对洁净区分布的影响.     

快速退火气氛对300mm CZ硅片吸杂效应和表面微观结构的影响

研究了N2和N2/NH3混合气两种不同气氛快速退火处理硅片对洁净区和氧沉淀分布的影响.研究发现:N2/NH3混合气氛处理的硅片在后序热处理中表层形成很薄的洁净区同时体内形成高密度的氧沉淀;而N2气氛处理的硅片的沽净区较厚、氧沉淀密度较低.但是两种气氛下延长恒温时间都可以降低洁净区厚度,增加氧沉淀密度.X射线光电子能谱和原子力显微镜扫描的结果显示N2/NH3混合气氛处理使表面出现了强烈的氮化反应,利用氮化反应町以解释快速退火气氛对洁净区分布的影响.     

Detection and mapping of oxygen in silicon wafers by scanning infrared absorption

Scanning Infrared Absorption (S.I.R.A.) setup was carried out for investigating and mapping of microdefects distribution in Czochralski silicon wafers. Using CO₂ laser, this non destructive, non contact test method allows transmitted beam local attenuation from oxygen precipitates to be determined. Transmitted intensity I_t maps from peak height of the 1080 cm^?1 absorption band were obtained. An inhomogeneous initial oxygen distribution is found in as-grown samples. The samples were then submitted to preannealing at 750°C for 16 hours, followed by annealing at 900°C for 24 hours. The obtained I_t fluctuations mapping depicts a ring-shaped distribution of oxygen precipitates.     

快速退火气氛对300mm硅片内洁净区和氧沉淀形成的影响

300mm硅片中厚度合适的洁净区和高密度氧沉淀,有利于对器件有源区金属沾污的吸除,改善栅氧化物的完整性.文中使用Ar,N2/NHa混合气作为快速退火(RTA)气氛,研究RTA气氛对洁净区、氧沉淀形成的影响.研究发现N2/NHs混合气氛处理的硅片表层洁净区明显薄于Ar气氛处理的硅片,氧沉淀密度明显高于Ar气氛处理后的硅片.同时发现在两种气氛下,延长恒温时间都可以降低洁净区厚度,增加氧沉淀密度.基于空位增强氧沉淀成核和氮化空位注入的基本原理,就RTA气氛和恒温时间对洁净区和氧沉淀分布的影响进行了讨论.     

快速退火气氛对300mm硅片内洁净区和氧沉淀形成的影响

300mm硅片中厚度合适的洁净区和高密度氧沉淀,有利于对器件有源区金属沾污的吸除,改善栅氧化物的完整性.文中使用Ar,N2/NHa混合气作为快速退火(RTA)气氛,研究RTA气氛对洁净区、氧沉淀形成的影响.研究发现N2/NHs混合气氛处理的硅片表层洁净区明显薄于Ar气氛处理的硅片,氧沉淀密度明显高于Ar气氛处理后的硅片.同时发现在两种气氛下,延长恒温时间都可以降低洁净区厚度,增加氧沉淀密度.基于空位增强氧沉淀成核和氮化空位注入的基本原理,就RTA气氛和恒温时间对洁净区和氧沉淀分布的影响进行了讨论.     

Enhanced gettering of iron impurities in bulk silicon by using external direct current electric field

Iron impurities in bulk silicon are found to getter efficiently at the polysilicon layer by an electric field during isothermal annealing. Experimental results show that iron concentration at the polysilicon layer increases to the level that becomes detectable by total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy. The improved gettering efficiency for iron is attributed mainly to the directional drift of ionic iron interstitials toward the polysilicon gettering sites, under the influence of the applied potential gradient, thus presenting a more effective method for reducing the iron content in silicon.     

重掺硅衬底材料中氧沉淀研究进展

对国内外在重掺硅中氧沉淀方面的研究做了综合阐述,对氧沉淀研究现状和存在问题进行了讨论,同时就热处理,掺杂剂对氧沉淀的影响做了浅析,使人们对重掺硅衬底中氧沉淀这一领域有更深的认识.     

New oxygen donors formed at 700 °C in silicon

Donor formation at 700 °C was studied by infrared absorption, etching, transmission electron microscope, resistivity, and spreading resistance measurements in Czochralski grown silicon. The donor concentration is related to the oxygen-precipitate density, oxygen reduction, and carbon reduction by annealing at 700 °C. The donor distribution corresponds to the distribution of oxygen precipitates observed after annealing. The proposed donor is an oxygen precipitate nucleated at a carbon site. The oxygen-related donor formation not only occurs in the bulk of samples but also in the denuded zone. Donor-related microdefects do not seriously influence the threshold voltage in metal-oxide-silicon field-effects-transistors, but are expected to decrease carrier lifetime at the surface of the denuded zone.     

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Surface passivation by rehydrogenation of silicon‐nitride‐coated silicon wafers

A silicon wafer with a silicon nitride layer deposited by low pressure chemical vapour deposition may be subjected to high‐temperature treatments without adversely affecting the electronic properties of the silicon on the condition that a thin oxide is present under the nitride. After high‐temperature treatments there is an apparent degradation in effective lifetime, probably due to a loss of hydrogen from the silicon/oxide interface. Effective lifetimes can be completely recovered by thermal treatment in a hydrogen‐containing ambient. This work has useful applications for solar cells as many of the properties of these nitrides can be used to advantage. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CZSi中Ge增强氧外扩散现象

在退火处理时，Ｇｅ易与Ｓｉ中Ｏ形成易挥发的ＧｅＯ复合体，使硅片表面洁净区的形成受氧的外扩散和ＧｅＯ挥发两种因素制约。即从效果上看，Ｇｅ增强了氧的外扩散，有利于内吸附工艺的实现。     

大直径CZSi单晶中微缺陷与间隙氧之间的关系

通过实验分析了大直径直拉硅片中间隙氧含量对原生新微缺陷的影响,并对具有不同间隙氧含量的硅片进行热处理实验.结果发现间隙氧含量影响到晶体中新微缺陷的密度,通过高温退火可显著降低微缺陷的密度.     

A novel method to enhance the gettering efficiency in p-type Czochralski silicon by a sacrificial porous silicon layer

A new two-step phosphorous diffusion gettering(TSPDG) process using a sacrificial porous silicon layer(PSL) is proposed.Due to a decrease in high temperature time,the TSPDG(PSL) process weakens the deterioration in performances of PSL,and increases the capability of impurity clusters to dissolve and diffuse to the gettering regions.By means of the TSPDG(PSL) process under conditions of 900℃/60 min + 700℃/30 min,the effective lifetime of minority carriers in solar-grade(SOG) Si is increased to 14.3 times its original value,and the short-circuit current density of solar cells is improved from 23.5 o 28.7 mA/cm~2,and the open-circuit voltage from 0.534 to 0.596 V along with the transform efficiency from 8.1%to 11.8%,which are much superior to the results achieved by the PDG(PSL) process at 900℃for 90 min.     

利用多孔硅层增强P型CZ硅中吸杂效率的一种新方法

A new two-step phosphorous diffusion gettering(TSPDG) process using a sacrificial porous silicon layer(PSL) is proposed.Due to a decrease in high temperature time,the TSPDG(PSL) process weakens the deterioration in performances of PSL,and increases the capability of impurity clusters to dissolve and diffuse to the gettering regions.By means of the TSPDG(PSL) process under conditions of 900℃/60 min + 700℃/30 min,the effective lifetime of minority carriers in solar-grade(SOG) Si is increased to 14.3 times ...     

Effects of oxygen in Ni films on Ni-induced lateral crystallization of amorphous silicon films at various temperatures

Effects of oxygen in Ni films on the Ni-induced lateral crystallization (NILC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) films at various temperatures have been investigated. It was found that oxygen in Ni films retarded the nucleation of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) from a-Si, but had little effect on the growth rate of poly-Si. This is because that needed an incubation period to be reduced to Ni metal for the subsequent mediated crystallization of a-Si.