Internally gettered heteroepitaxial semiconductor wafers and methods of manufacturing such wafers

A heteroepitaxial silicon-on-insulator wafer having a front surface and a back surface, a central plane midway between the front and back surfaces, and a circumferential edge joining the front and back surfaces, the wafer including a primary material, the wafer comprising:

• a heteroepitaxial layer forming the front surface of the wafer and including a secondary material having a different crystal structure than that of the primary material;
• the heteroepitaxial layer being substantially free of defects and having a thickness of at least 5 nanometers;
• an insulation layer;
• and
• a bulk layer which comprises a second region of the wafer below the surface layer and extending through the central plane, wherein the bulk layer includes oxygen precipitates having a density of at least about 1×107 precipitates/cm3.

A process of manufacturing a semiconductor wafer having a front surface and a back surface, a central plane midway between the front and back surfaces, a bulk layer straddling the central plane, and a circumferential edge joining the front and back surfaces, the wafer including a primary material, the process comprising:

• slicing the wafer from an ingot;
• smoothing the front and back surfaces;
• forming a vacancy template within the wafer by rapid thermal treatment of the wafer;
• stabilizing the vacancy template by maintaining the wafer in a temperature range between about 700° C. and about 900° C. for at least about 30 minutes;
• growing oxygen precipitates by maintaining the wafer in a temperature range between about 900° C. and about 1000° C. for between about 1 to 2 hours;
• forming a heteroepitaxial layer on the front surface,
• the heteroepitaxial layer including a secondary material having a different crystal structure than that of the primary material;
• the heteroepitaxial layer being substantially free of defects and having a depth of at least 5 nanometers.

A process of manufacturing a semiconductor wafer having a front surface and a back surface, a bulk layer therebetween including oxygen precipitates having a density of at least about 1×107 precipitates/cm3, and a circumferential edge joining the front and back surfaces, the wafer including a primary material, the process comprising:

• slicing the wafer from an ingot;
• smoothing the front and back surfaces;
• outdiffusing oxygen from the wafer to form a precipitate free layer at the front surface, the precipitate free layer extending radially to within at least about 5 mm of the circumferential edge and being substantially free of defects to a depth measured from the front surface of at least 5 microns;
• forming a heteroepitaxial layer on the front surface;
• wherein the heteroepitaxial layer includes a secondary material having a different crystal structure than that of the primary material;
• wherein the heteroepitaxial layer is formed so that it is substantially free of defects and has a thickness of at least 5 nanometers.