Structural defects in the multicrystalline silicon ingot grown with the seed at the bottom of crucible

Because of the temperature gradient occurring during the growth of the ingot with directional solidification method, defects are generated and the residual stress is produced in the ingot. Changing the growth and cooling rate during the crystal growth process will be helpful for us to understand the defects and residual stress generation. The defects and residual stress can affect the properties of wafer. Generally, it was found that the size of grains and twin boundaries are smaller at the top area than at the bottom of the ingot regardless of growth and cooling condition. In addition to that, in the top area of silicon ingot, higher density of dislocation is observed to be present than in the bottom area of the silicon ingot. This observation implies that higher stress is imposed to the top area due to the faster cooling of silicon ingot after solidification process. In the ingot with slower growth rate, dislocation density was reduced and the TTV (Total Thickness Variation), saw mark, warp, and bow of wafer became lower. Therefore, optimum growth condition will help us to obtain high quality silicon ingot with low defect density and low residual stress.