TEM characterisation of high pressure-high-temperature-treated Czochralskisilicon samples

Pieces taken out of high oxygen content (c(O) > 10(18) cm(-3)) Czochralski- grown Si wafers have been preannealed at different conditions in order to g enerate nucleation centres for oxygen precipitation and large oxygen-relate d defects. Next, the samples have been treated at temperatures up to 1620 K under various hydrostatic pressures (up to 1 GPa) in Ar atmosphere in orde r to investigate the effect of uniform stress on the defect structure, type and density as a function of the applied pressure-temperature treatment. T ransmission electron microscopy results indicate that for treatment tempera tures below 1400 K. the size of the extended defects increases with the app lied pressure, while their density diminishes. However, for higher treatmen t temperatures, the overall density of defects is much smaller and the beha viour is the opposite; the density of defects increases with pressure. The results will be discussed as a function of the preannealing of the samples and of the treatment conditions employed, and will be compared with the dat a given by infrared spectroscopy. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S. A. All rights reserved.