Dash 1959
Dash 1959
William C. Dash
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Journal
of
Applied Physics
Volume 30, Number 4 April,1959
The dislocations which occur in silicon crystals grown by the terms of climb. In a super-saturation of vacancies, an edge dis-
Czochralski method with and without a crucible are studied by location can be forced completely out of a crystal; a screw will
etching and copper decoration techniques. A representative remain straight or may be distorted into a coaxial helix. By growth
crystal with about 500 dislocations per cm2 is examined in detail along {100) or (111) axes under conditions which favor a vacancy
to provide general information about their distribution. Sources supersaturation, screw as well as edge and mixed dislocations:can
of dislocations which are important at particular stages of growth propagate to the surface and be eliminated. The observations are
are isolated and means found to minimize or eliminate them. The consistent with this interpretation. When the dislocations are
sources include generation by thermal shock from surface damage eliminated, the growing crystal can withstand large temperature
or residual dislocations in the seed; poor epitaxy at the seed; fluctuations without further generation of dislocations. A pro-
plastic generation in the bulk of the crystal; effects of segregation cedure is outlined for the growth of dislocation-free silicon crystals.
of impurities. Plastic generation is the only source found in the Germanium crystals free of dislocations have been grown by a
bulk of a crystal. "Spontaneous" formation of dislocations from direct application of the method. It is believed that the conclusions
excess vacancies is not found. Impurity segregation causes some reached during the course of this investigation may be applied to
generation at the tip end of crystals. For certain crystallographic the development of methods for growing dislocation-free crystals
directions it is possible to eliminate residual dislocations and of other substances.
thenceforth grow a dislocation-free crystal. This is interpreted in
459
Copyright © 1959 by the American Institute of Physics.
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460 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 461
~ ~
in the bottom tip, permitting examination under more
favorable conditions. (110)
In order to obtain an estimate of the number and t
distribution of dislocations in a crystal, it is etched in a
mixture consisting of 50% HF solution, 70% HNO a 5
solution and glacial acetic acid in the ratio of 1: 3: 10 by
Fm. 3. Schematic 2
volume. [This mixture is hereafter referred to as diagram of (110)
(1 :3: 10); two other mixtures, with volume concen- crystal with a {111}
trations (1:3:0) and (1:3:6) are used for special pur- twin plane which
changed the axial Twin
poses to be described.J The time required to form orientation to ap-
identifiable pits is one to two hours; pits several hun- proximately (113).
dred microns deep are formed by etching overnight. The specimen was 7
cut up into the indi-
The crystal is then cut into parallel-sided slabs, cated sections for
8~
lapped smooth and chemically polished in (1: 3: 0) decoration and ex-
amination.
solution. A water solution of copper nitrate with copper
equivalent to about 10-6 to 10-5 atom percent of the
'f~
silicon is spread in droplets over one side of each slab
and evaporated to dryness. They are then put into a
hydrogen atmosphere in a quartz tube and heated at
about 950°C for 30 minutes and quenched by dropping
onto a quartz plate. Rapid cooling is necessary to pre-
vent formation of large precipitate particles which 9 10 II
result in poorly defined dislocation lines. The contact (a) (b)
with the quartz plate makes possible cooling below the
temperature of luminosity of slabs weighing as much as
ten grams in a few seconds with no apparent change in Figure 3(b) illustrates how the crystal was cut for
the number or distribution of dislocations. Faster examination of the decorated dislocations. In what is
to follow only slices 3, 6, 7, and 8 and a portion of slice
quenchi~g, for example by contact with a copper plate,
results m too light a decoration for convenient 10 are illustrated, since these show all the important
examination. features. Saw cuts and polishing account for a removal
Following decoration, the slabs are optically polished of about one mm of material from between the slices'
on the flat sides and viewed with a microscope and this must be taken into account in tracing the lines fro~
one slice to another.
infrared image converter as described in reference 1.
Figur~ 4 shows dislocations in slices 3 and 10, viewed
Over a hundred silicon crystals have been examined
either by etching or by both etching and decoration. in a [110J direction. (The following comments apply
The discussion will be limited to specimens which con- specifically to slice 3; the lower part of the figure cor-
tain a maximum of 103 dislocations per cm2 , because the responding to slice 10 is discussed later.) Although the
arrays in less perfect crystals are complicated and diffi- dislocations present here are too numerous for extensive
analysis, some interesting observations have been made.
cult to analyze. Two of the specimens contained one
and two twins, respectively. These crystals were In the center the density of dislocations is relatively
selected for study because twins form crystallographic low: they are present mainly in the form of long lines.
barriers to glide, thereby making it possible to separate Many are over a centimeter in length and run parallel
motion and multiplication from other origins of to each other and to the [110J axis. This is a close-
dislocations. packed crystallographic direction in the diamond struc-
ture. It is also the preferred orientation for both screw
III. DETAILED EXAMINATION OF A CRYSTAL and "60°" dislocations during plastic deformation at
WITH ABOUT 103 DISLOCATIONS PER Cm" temperatures around 900°C. 1 ,3
A specimen which was decorated and examined In addition to the long [110J dislocations, many
throughout most of its volume contained a single (111) loops are observed near the seed end and near the outer
twin boundary about half-way along its length, as shown e~ges of the slab. Isolatej. loops can be seen on edge
schematically in Fig. 3(a). The twin was nucleated at lymgJn the (11!land (111) planes. Others, presumably
the point marked A, possibly by a speck floating on in (111) and (111) planes, appear to be parallel to the
the surface of the melt, after which it grew completely plane of the sample because of the large depth of focus.
~cross ~he crystal. Except for the twin, this specimen H is very likely that these loops result from a light
IS typIcal of crucible-grown crystals of moderate plastic deformation produced by thermal stresses,
perfection. because they resemble the noncrystallographic loops
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462 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 463
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464 WILLIAM C. DASH
FIG. 8. Stereoscopic
view of a portion of slice
7 containing twin. Sev-
eral groups of "pileups"
are clearly visible.
a clue to a mechanism for the elimination of dislocations. IV. SOURCES OF DISLOCATIONS DURING
This is discussed more fully in a later section. GROWTH OF A CRYSTAL
The specks of copper precipitate mentioned above A. Generation of Dislocations in the
are commonly observed in regions remote from dis- Seeding Process
locations. They are more evident in the specimen in
There appear to be four sources which introduce dis-
Fig. 16. They are usually grouped with a periodicity
locations into the crystal at the inception of growth on
corresponding to the amount of growth in a single
a seed. These are listed and described in the following.
revolution of the crystal. The nuclei at which they form
may be aggregates of oxygen or other impurities or 1. Propagation by growth of the dislocations which
possibly vacancy clusters. The size of the specks is very emerge from the seed at the solid-liquid interface.
sensitive to the rate of cooling after decoration-rela- 2. Multiplication by thermal shock of the dislocations
tively slow cooling gives rise to large specks, and vice in the seed and propagation by growth of those which
versa. These specks are discussed further in the follow- emerge at the solid-liquid interface.
ing in relation to pedestal-grown crystals. 3. Generation from surface damage.-Deformation
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 465
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466 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 467
~
EED =RAPHED ~.
DOUBLE
of tangled lines. These appear to have been generated ENO _ ,~A~~~ ~ _ TWINS
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468 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 469
V. CONSIDERATIONS INVOLVED IN
IMPROVING PERFECTION
A. Preparation of the Seed
The initial dislocation concentration immediately
after the commencement of withdrawal of the crystal
is determined by the following effects, which have been
described in Sec. IV.
(1) Propagation by growth of dislocations initially
FIG. 18. (a) Infrared transmission of an undecorated sprout,
present in the seed. sowing filaments of a segregated impurity. Separation of tips of
(2) Generation of dislocations by thermal stresses in clusters is about 3 mm. (b) Photograph of the specimen in (a)
the seed from dislocations already present and between crossed polarizers.
propagation of these by growth.
(3) From residual surface damage in the seed. The number of dislocations generated by plastic flow
(4) From poor epitaxy of the newly crystallized will depend upon the nature of thermal stresses while
material. the temperature of the crystal is in the plastic range.
Billig14 has analyzed this problem for the growth of
These sources can be minimized by care in selection and
germanium and silicon crystals. However, Figs. 15 and
preparation of the seed, use of a small cross section at
16 indicate that thermal stresses cause plastic flow only
the tip, and by allowing sufficient time for complete
when dislocations capable of motion are present. A
melting of the original surface of the seed where it con-
moderate number of dislocations can be tolerated in
tacts the liquid.
the early stages of growth provided that there is a
B. Effect of Crystallographic Orientation
on Plastic Generation
The preferred crystallographic orientations minimize
the number of plastically generated dislocations which
expand from a source in the solid down to the growing
interface. For a crystal of given diameter, the larger
the minimum angle between the growth axis and {111}
planes, the smaller will be the probability that disloca~
tions formed by thermal stresses will expand, intersect
the interface and be propagated. Thus (100) and (111)
orientations are more favorable than (110) or (112).
Table I lists four low index directions in order of FIG. 19. Transmission
electron micrograph of a
preference. branched filament of segre-
It should not be concluded from Table I that growth gated material in sprout.
along a (100) or (Ill) axis will in itself assure high per- Other lines are surface
scratches, produced in pre-
fection. The dislocations which actually emerge at the paring specimen. Length of
solid-liquid interface may be propagated indefinitely filament is about 30 p..
under suitable thermal conditions regardless of axis.
Figure 20(b) is an example of this in a crystal with (100)
growth axis.
TABLE 1.
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470 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF Si CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 471
FIG. 21. Climb of dislocations following simultaneous diffusion of copper and gold at 1200°C. Dislocations in screw orientations form
tightly wound spirals parallel to (110) orientations. A series of prismatic loops probably formed from a glide dislocation can be seen near
bottom. Large loops parallel to (Ill) plane probably had a different origin: they may be stacking faults bounded by partial dislocations.
Diameter of large loops is about 50 1'.
to be oriented parallel to this axis cannot be cast off by possible that gold ions change the normal vacancy
climb. concentration. 2! Further experimental results are
A number of observations illustrate these arguments. necessary to clarify the detailed mechanism.
a. Long undeviated dislocations parallel to the For the purposes of the present investigation, several
growth axis are very common in [110J crystals, as observations can be made from the specimen shown in
can be seen in Figs. 4 and 15(b). Copper decoration Fig. 21: Helices with strictly (110) orientations are
of deformed crystals demonstrated that many such formed. From the analyses by Amelinckx et at.ls and by
dislocations in a typical [llOJ crystal were in the Weertman!9 they were formed from nearly pure screw
screw orientation. dislocations. The sequence of prismatic loops seen on
b. Tweetl 6 has found helical dislocations with axes edge near the bottom of the photograph was apparently
aligned parallel to the growth axis in [110J ger- formed from a glide dislocation, since their Burgers
manium crystals grown in a high temperature vector is (110). The large loops lie on {1ll} planes;
gradient and then brought to room temperature these presumably have a different origin. They may be
over a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. regions of stacking fault surrounded by partial
c. A qualitative idea of the effect of an excess of point dislocations.
defects on the configuration of dislocations in sili- Prismatic loops can be seen in the process of forming
con has been obtained by simultaneous diffusion from a glide dislocation in Fig. 22. Successive loops are
of gold and copper into a specimen at about being cut off from a helix as a result of inter-turn repul-
1200°C. 20 The mechanism is not understood. It is sion and expansion of the helix with respect to the
remainder of the dislocation. As the loops are cut off,
20 A preliminary account of these studies was presented at the
Chicago Meeting of the American Physical Society, March 27, their spacing increases because of mutual repulsion. A
1958. See Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. Ser. II, 3, 106 (1958). A discussion
of the mechanism of generation of prismatic loops from a glide 21 F. A. Kroger and H. J. Vink D. Phys. Chem. Solids 5, 208
dislocation was published by William C. Dash, Phys. Rev. Letters (1958)J discuss the effect of impurities upon vacancy concentration
1,400 (1958). in solids.
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472 WILLIAM C. DASH
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GROWTH OF 51 CRYSTALS FREE FROM DISLOCATIONS 473
~;
on maximum diameter is expected; none has been found
with the largest crystals thus far grown, namely SO [IOOJ-- :>
grams in weight with a maximum diameter of 2.2 cm. lem
When the initial stages have been carried out properly, (a)
the perfection is insensitive to fluctuations in diameter
or to other details of further growth.
The specimen shown in Fig. 2 is a typical example of
a dislocation-free crystal grown from a crucible. Numer- FTG. 23. IDisloca-
ous [100J and [111J crystals, as well as one with [110J tions in a [100J speci-
men viewed in the
orientation completely free of dislocations over at least [Ol1J direction. A
90% of their length have been grown from a crucible in gradual improvement
this way. in perfection occurs
with continued
Many [100J and [111J crystals grown by the pedestal growth. The long,
method have likewise been found to be free from dis- smoothly curved lines
locations over most of their length. The orientation is were probably formed
by plastic flow sev-
especially important in this case because twins caused ral hundred degrees
by poor epitaxy around the periphery of the seed com- below the melt tem-
perature. The zig-zag
monly occur, but are easily cast off when the axis is not lines near the arrow,
parallel to a {111} plane. shown at higher mag-
Several Ge crystals free of dislocations have been nification in the inset,
are composed of sec-
grown by a direct application of the above procedure. tions which are alter-
A CP-4 etch on {111} planes was used to determine nately primarily edge
the presence of dislocations. 23 This is not quite as satis- and primarily screw.
This is believed to
factory as a decoration process, since only the surface indicate climb and
can be examined. However, Tweet's16 results on Ge glide in the region of
the growing inter-
crystals grown under similar conditions give confirma- face. Width of region
tion that an accurate determination of dislocation shown in inset is
density can be made. There can be little doubt that the about 0.4 mm.
qualitative behavior of dislocations during growth of
both germanium and silicon is the same.
VII. DISCUSSION
At the time of writing, approximately 20 silicon
crystals free from dislocations of detectable size have
been grown from a quartz crucible and a comparable
(b)
number by the pedestal method. As mentioned earlier,
dislocation loops less than 2 microns in diameter would
escape detection by the methods used. Although the Aggregation of vacancies might occur at places suffi-
growth conditions (growth rate, temperature gradient, ciently removed from dislocations and from surfaces.
rotation, etc.) differ greatly between the two methods, The randomly distributed specks of copper found in
these findings fit a comparatively simple pattern. With the center of the pedestal-grown specimen in Fig. 20(a)
the exception of the external effects discussed above, might have been nucleated by clusters of vacancies
plastic deformation accounts for the generation of all of which were too far from the surface to enable them to
the dislocations in a crystal grown as described. Climb
be removed. Some etching properties of the Ge crystals
caused by vacancy supersaturation modifies the dis-
tribution and provides a mechanism for eliminating grown by Tweetl 6 have a similar geometrical distribu-
dislocations. The seed preparation and initial growth tion to the copper specks in Fig. 20(a).
must be carried out in a way which minimizes plastic When all of the dislocations have been eliminated,
flow and removes the residual dislocations. When this there is no longer any advantage in maintaining growth
is done, the remainder of the crystal is free from dis- conditions which favor climb. There may in fact be
locations despite considerable changes in growth vari- disadvantages if aggregation of vacancies is undesirably
ables. The withdrawn and re-inserted specimen in large. For this reason it may be necessary at this stage
Fig. 16 demonstrates that a crystal entirely free of dis- to use an after-heater and to cool slowly to room tem-
locations can be grown from a clean, dislocation-free perature. This would tend to remove a large fraction of
seed.
the excess vacancies which otherwise might aggregate
23 Vogel, Pfann, Corey, and Thomas, Phys. Rev. 90, 489 (1953). internally.
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474 WILLIAM C. DASH
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