ABSTRACT
The rst step in the manufacturing of integrated circuits (ICs) is the preparation of a perfect single-crystal silicon. In crystalline materials, all atoms (or molecules) are arranged in a systematic periodic fashion, and this periodicity extends throughout the entire crystal in all three dimensions. If the periodicity is limited to shorter distances within the crystal dimensions, then they are referred as polycrystalline materials, and the separation of these polycrystalline areas are dened by physical boundaries. In this arrangement, the crystal consists of relatively small crystals, often referred to as grains, arranged in random directions, but joining at the boundaries. The regions between the grains where the periodicity abruptly changes are called grain boundaries [1]. If the grain sizes are sufciently small and limited to only to the unit cell dimensions, such solid materials are referred to as amorphous materials and no periodicity is observed.
