Monocrystalline silicon used for integrated circuits: still on the way

With the rapid development of semiconductor technology, highly integrated circuits (ICs) and future nano-scale devices require large diameter and defect-free monocrystalline silicon wafers. The ongoing innovation from silicon materials is one of the driving forces in future micro and nano-technologies. In this work, the recent developments in the controlling of large diameter silicon crystal growth processes, the improvement of material features by co-doping with the intend-introduced impurities, and the progress of defect engineered silicon wafers (epitaxial silicon wafer, strained silicon, silicon on insulator) are reviewed. It is proposed that the silicon manufacturing infrastructure could still meet the increasingly stringent requirements arising from ULSI circuits and will expand Moore’s law into a couple of decades.