Semiconductor wafer, semiconductor device using the same, and method and apparatus for producing the same

A method of processing a semiconductor wafer, comprising:

• preheating the wafer to a first temperature that is less than a peak temperature;
• heating the wafer from the first temperature to the peak temperature at an instant heating rate that reaches about 100° C. per second or more;
• and
• immediately thereafter, cooling the wafer at an instant cooling rate that reaches about −100° C. per second or more, wherein:
• the peak temperature is about 1,100° C. or more,
• the instant heating rate is the first derivative of a temperature/time curve during the heating of the wafer, and
• the instant cooling rate is the first derivative of a temperature/time curve during the cooling of the wafer.

A semiconductor chip having a semiconductor substrate and a least one device on an active surface of the substrate, wherein:

• the semiconductor substrate includes a denuded zone below the at least one device, and
• the semiconductor substrate includes an internal gettering region below the denuded zone, the internal gettering region including:
• a first region in which a bulk microdefect density is at a maximum, the first region being proximate to the denuded zone;
• and
• a second region below the first region and contiguous with the first region, a bulk microdefect density in the second region decreasing monotonically from the maximum to a back surface of the semiconductor substrate.

A semiconductor wafer, comprising:

• a first surface configured for the formation of active devices thereon;
• a bulk region;
• and
• nucleation sites in the bulk region, wherein:
• a profile of the nucleation sites in the bulk region is predetermined to generate a denuded zone just below the first surface, and
• the nucleation site profile is asymmetric and is at a maximum concentration at a depth proximate to the first surface.

A semiconductor wafer, comprising:

• a predetermined nucleation site profile, which, upon thermal treatment, produces a bulk microdefect profile, the bulk microdefect profile including:
• a denuded zone below a first surface of the wafer, and
• an internal gettering region below the denuded zone, wherein the internal gettering region includes:
• a first region in which bulk microdefect density is at a maximum, the first region being proximate to the denuded zone;
• and
• a second region below the first region and contiguous with the first region, a bulk microdefect density in the second region decreasing from the maximum to a back surface of the semiconductor substrate.