Process for the heat treatment of a silicon wafer, and silicon wafer produced

US6803331B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Siltronic AG · DE

Inventors

• Robert A. Holzl · Tustin, US
• Christoph Seuring · Burghausen, DE
• Reinhold Wahlich · Burghausen, DE
• Wilfried von Ammon · Burghausen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 4, 2003
• Grant date: Oct 12, 2004
• Expiry date: Feb 4, 2023

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T117/1088
• WIPO field: Surface technology, coating
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A process for the heat treatment of a silicon wafer, during which the silicon wafer is at least temporarily exposed to an oxygen-containing atmosphere, the heat treatment taking place at a temperature which is selected in such a way that the inequality is satisfied, where [Oi] is the oxygen concentration in the silicon wafer [Oi]eq(T) is the limit solubility of oxygen in silicon at a temperature T, &sgr;SiO2 is the surface energy of silicon dioxide &OHgr; is the volume of a precipitated oxygen atom, r is the mean COP radius and k is the Boltzmann constant. A silicon wafer made by the above process.