Structure and behavior of void defects in Czochralski silicon

Dual-type octahedral void defects were found in Czochralski silicon in 1995. This is a big trigger for inducing “Renaissance” in the field of Si crystal investigation as well as a breakthrough toward the new stage of next-generation Si-microelectronics development. The characteristic faces of the side-walls of the defects were identified as the (111) plane. A thin layer (2-nm thick) of oxide completely covers the side-walls uniformly. The typical size of the defects is 100 nm. This paper characterizes the defect structure and its thermal behavior.