Monocrystalline silicon wafer and forming method therefor

Abstract

The present invention provides a monocrystalline silicon wafer and method of forming the wafer. The monocrystalline silicon wafer includes an upper surface and a first region located within a predefined distance from the upper surface, and the first region is free of self-interstitial defects. Semiconductor devices fabricated from such a monocrystalline silicon wafer free of self-interstitial defects will exhibit improved performance because of less leakage and a higher breakdown voltage. The method includes a thermal process for eliminating concentrated self-interstitial defects in the monocrystalline silicon wafer. The thermal process includes rapid thermal processing and/or prolonged thermal processing. That is, a monocrystalline silicon wafer free of self-interstitial defects can be obtained by performing the thermal process on the wafer, resulting in improved performance of semiconductor devices fabricated from the wafer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.