300 mm silicon crystal growth and wafer processing

We have grown 300 mm silicon single crystals using a 28" hot zone with 200 kg charge size. The mechanical strength of silicon seeds was tested and a new style seed and chuck were developed for safer operation. Oxygen concentration and radial gradient (ORG) were controlled to /spl plusmn/2.5 ppma between 33 and 23 ppma and to less than 5% respectively. Crystal originated pit (COP) sizes were less than 0.15 /spl mu/m. Wire saw technology has been used to slice the 300 mm wafers and the damage layer of the as-cut wafers investigated. The results show that wire sawn wafers have few defects. It has been found that rapid thermal annealing (RTA) can affect COP counts.