Oxide precipitation behavior in heavily doped silicon wafer after rapid thermal process

Oxide precipitation behavior in heavily doped silicon after rapid thermal process (RTP) in Ar ambient was investigated. The samples were heavily B-, As- and Sb-doped wafers with a diameter of 150 mm, the concentration of interstitial oxygen was between 6 and 26 ppm. RTP temperatures were changed from 1200 to 1260 °C. The experiment showed that (1) High-density oxygen precipitates (above 105/cm2) were found in heavily B-doped wafer, denuded zone was found only at 1260 °C, (2) compared to the heavily B-doped wafers, the densities of oxygen precipitates in heavily As- and Sb-doped wafers were rather low. The formation of oxygen precipitates was restrained. The reason is discussed in this paper.