Method for characterizing defects in silicon crystal

A method for characterizing defects in silicon crystal comprising the following steps:

• etching a surface of the silicon crystal to remove a predicted thickness of the silicon crystal;
• conducting a localized light scattering (LLS) scanning to a surface of the etched silicon crystal to obtain a LLS map of the surface, a latex sphere equivalent (LSE) size of defects, and defect bulk density;
• and
• determining a type of defect existing in the silicon crystal and/or a defect zone of each type of defect on the surface based on at least one of the LLS map of the surface, the LSE size of defects and the defect bulk density;
• wherein the defect bulk density is calculated based on a number of defects caused by the etching and the predicted thickness,
• wherein the LLS scanning is conducted to obtain the LSE size of each defect, and the defect type is determined based on the LSE size;
• wherein the step of determining the defect type based on the LSE size comprises:
• before characterizing, establishing a relationship between the LSE size and the defect type;
• during characterizing, obtaining the LSE size of a sample by the LLS scanning;
• and
• comparing the obtained LSE size and the relationship to determining the defect type.