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At least 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Microgravity Silicon Zoning Investigation

This research program is directed toward the understanding of the float zone crystal growth process, the melt interactions which lead to crystal inhomogeneities, and the influence of microgravity on reducing these inhomogeneities. Silicon was selected as the model crystal because its inhomogeneities lead to known variations in device performance, and because the mechanisms involved in its growth are understood better than for other high temperature crystals. The objective of the program is to understand the growth mechanisms in float zone growth and thereby determine the feasibility and advantages of float zone growth of silicon under microgravity conditions. This will be done by characterizing the growth at g = 1, projecting the changes in melt flows due to microgravity, observing these in space growth and determining the effects on defective inhomogeneities. A Thin Rod Zoner was constructed as a laboratory prototype for flight growth of 5 mm diameter silicon crystals, which can be done within the power and cooling capabilities of shuttle flights. A new method of zoning silicon, using resistance heating, has resulted in melting 5 mm diameter ingots.

E L Kern↗
NASA NTRS1985

Future application of Czochralski crystal pulling for silicon

Czochralski (Cz) crystal pulling has been the predominant method used for preparing silicon single crystal for the past twenty years. The fundamental technology used has changed little. However, great strides have been made in learning how to make the crystals bigger and of better quality at ever increasing productivity rates. Currently charge sizes of 50 kg of polycrystal silicon are being used for production and crystals up to ten inches in diameter have been grown without major difficulty. The largest material actually being processed in silicon wafer form is 150 mm (6 inches) in diameter. Growing of crystals in a magnetic field has proved to be particularly useful for microscopic impurity control. Major developments in past years on equipment for Cz crystal pulling have included the automatic growth control of the diameter as well as the starting core of the crystal, the use of magnetic fields and around the crystal puller to supress convection, various recharging schemes for dopant control and the use of continuous liquid feed in the crystal puller. The latter, while far from being a reliable production process, is ideal in concept for major improvement in Cz crystal pulling. The Czochralski process will maintain its dominance of silicon crystal production for many years.

Matlcok, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

High purith low defect FZ silicon

The most common intrinsic defects in dislocation-free float zone (FZ) silicon crystals are the A- and B-type swirl defects. The mechanisms of their formation and annihilation have been extensively studied. Another type of defect in dislocation-free FZ crystals is referred to as a D-type defect. Concentrations of these defects can be minimized by optimizing the growth conditions, and the residual swirls can be reduced by the post-growth extrinsic gettering process. Czochralski (Cz) silicon wafers are known to exhibit higher resistance to slip and warpage due to thermal stress than do FZ wafers. The Cz crystals containing dislocations are more resistant to dislocation movement than dislocated FZ crystals because of the locking of dislocations by oxygen atoms present in the Cz crystals. Recently a transverse magnetic field was applied during the FZ growth of extrinsic silicon. Resultant flow patterns, as revealed by striation etching and spreading resistance in Ga-doped silicon crystals, indicate strong effects of the transverse magnetic field on the circulation within the melt. At fields of 5500 gauss, the fluid flow in the melt volume is so altered as to affect the morphology of the growing crystal.

Kimura, H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Impurities in silicon solar cells

Metallic impurities, both singly and in combinations, affect the performance of silicon solar cells. Czochralski silicon web crystals were grown with controlled additions of secondary impurities. The primary electrical dopants were boron and phosphorus. The silicon test ingots were grown under controlled and carefully monitored conditions from high-purity charge and dopant material to minimize unintentional contamination. Following growth, each crystal was characterized by chemical, microstructural, electrical, and solar cell tests to provide a detailed and internally consistent description of the relationships between silicon impurity concentration and solar cell performance. Deep-level spectroscopy measurements were used to measure impurity concentrations at levels below the detectability of other techniques and to study thermally-induced changes in impurity activity. For the majority of contaminants, impurity-induced performance loss is due to a reduction of the base diffusion length. From these observations, a semi-empirical model which predicts cell performance as a function of metal impurity concentration was formulated. The model was then used successfully to predict the behavior of solar cells bearing as many as 11 different impurities.

Hopkins, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Silicon purification using a Cu-Si alloy source

Production of 99.9999% pure silicon from 98% pure metallurgical grade (MG) silicon by a vapor transport filtration process (VTP) is described. The VTF process is a cold wall version of an HCl chemical vapor transport technique using a Si:Cu3Si alloy as the silicon source. The concentration, origin, and behavior of the various impurities involved in the process were determined by chemically analyzing alloys of different purity, the slag formed during the alloying process, and the purified silicon. Atomic absorption, emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma, spark source mass spectrometry, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy were used for these analyses. The influence of the Cl/H ratio and the deposition temperature on the transport rate was also investigated.

Powell, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Electrical, structural, and chemical characterization of silicon sheet materials

Progress on the electrical, structural, and chemical characterization of silicon sheet material is reported. In the study on high temperature deformation of dendritic web ribbon, experimental creep tests were performed in four point bending under constant load conditions, and unusual behavior was observed. Also, measurements of oxygen content in web ribbon were made. Two conclusions reached are creep behavior of web which is very different from any seen for single crystal silicon and oxygen level in web silicon which is near the saturation level at the melting point of silicon.

Ast, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Turbulent flow model for vapor collection efficiency of a high-purity silicon reactor

In this study a mathematical model and a computer code based on this model was developed to allow prediction of the product distribution in chemical reactors for converting gaseous silicon compounds to condensed-phase silicon. Specifically, the model formulated describes the silicon vapor separation/collection from the developing turbulent flow stream within reactors of the Westinghouse type. Migration of the silicon vapor to the reactor walls was described by the parametric solutions presented here, in order to reduce the experimentation necessary in the design of such reactors. Calculations relating to the collection efficiencies of such reactors are presented as a function of the reactor throughflow and distance along its length.

Srivastava, R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Cell technology: Advanced silicon sheet

The Flat-plate Solar Array (FSA)-sponsored Fourth Silicon Stress/Strain Workshop reviewed, coordinated, and assessed the progress in understanding and controlling stress and strain during the crystal growth of silicon ribbons. dislocation electrical activity and limits on solar cell efficiency, and on studying the effects of dopants on EFG characteristics. Work on silicon for high-efficiency solar cells, stress-strain relationships in silicon ribbon, and high temperature deformation of dendritic web ribbon was also discussed.

Morrison, Andrew D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

High efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

A review of the entire research program since its inception ten years ago is given. The initial effort focused on the effects of impurities on the efficiency of silicon solar cells to provide figures of maximum allowable impurity density for efficiencies up to about 16 to 17%. Highly accurate experimental techniques were extended to characterize the recombination properties of the residual imputities in the silicon solar cell. A numerical simulator of the solar cell was also developed, using the Circuit Technique for Semiconductor Analysis. Recent effort focused on the delineation of the material and device parameters which limited the silicon efficiency to below 20% and on an investigation of cell designs to break the 20% barrier. Designs of the cell device structure and geometry can further reduce recombination losses as well as the sensitivity and criticalness of the fabrication technology required to exceed 20%. Further research is needed on the fundamental characterization of the carrier recombination properties at the chemical impurity and physical defect centers. It is shown that only single crystalline silicon cell technology can be successful in attaining efficiencies greater than 20%.

Sah, C. Tang↗
NASA NTRS1986

Studies of implanted iron in silicon by channeling and Rutherford backscattering

Different amounts of 100-keV iron ions have been implanted into high-resistivity p-type FZ-silicon samples. The implantation damage, recovery of damage during various annealing periods and temperatures, movement of iron atoms under annealing and oxidation, and the kinds of defects created after implantation, annealing, or oxidation are all investigated by channeling and backscattering measurements. It is found that the critical fluence of 100-keV iron implanted into silicon at room temperature is about 2.5 x 10 to the 14th Fe/sq cm, and that iron atoms are gettered by silicon oxidation. In this supersaturated region, iron atoms diffuse slightly towards bulk silicon during high-temperature annealing (greater than or equal to 1100 C) but not at all during low-temperature annealing (less than or equal to 1000 C) in dry nitrogen ambient.

Wang, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Oxygen measurements in thin ribbon silicon

The oxygen content of thin silicon ribbons grown by the dendritic web technique was measured using a modification of the ASTM method based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Web silicon was found to have a high oxygen content, ranging from 13 to 19 ppma, calculated from the absorption peak associated with interstitial oxygen and using the new ASTM conversion coefficient. The oxygen concentration changed by about 10 percent along the growth direction of the ribbon. In some samples, a shoulder was detected on the absorption peak. A similar shoulder in Czochralski grown material has been variously interpreted in the literature as due to a complex of silicon, oxygen, and vacancies, or to a phase of SiO2 developed along dislocations in the material. In the case of web silicon, it is not clear which is the correct interpretation.

Hyland, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Fluidized-Bed Deposition Of Single-Crystal Silicon

Uniformly thin single-crystal films of silicon produced by modification of fluidized-bed-reactor technique producing polysilicon by chemical vapor deposition. Proposed for silicon wafers for flat-plate solar arrays and results in different structural and electronic properties in deposition layer desirable for specific microelectronic or solar-cell processing. In process deposition occurs on silicon wafers, kept individually at temperatures above 1,000 degree C. Heated wafers held in unheated and minimally-agitated-fluidized bed of silicon particles and in low concentration of silane.

Hsu, George C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Silicones As Connector-Potting Compounds

Report evaluates silicone potting materials for electrical connectors. Describes tests of connector specimens made with CV-2510 and DC-6-1104 silicones with dibutyl tin dilaurate catalyst and evaluates test results in light of previously published test results for polyurethanes. Discusses requirements for connector-potting materials, methods used to evaluate silicones, techniques for preparing specimens, and results of tests. Identifies commercial sources of silicone potting materials.

Bouquet, Frank L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Ultrasonic Measurement Of Silicon-Growth Interface

Position of interface between silicon melt and growing ribbon of silicon measured with aid of reflected ultrasound, according to proposal. Reflections reveal characteristics of ribbon and melt. Ultrasound pulses travel through rods to silicon ribbon growing by dendritic-web process. Rods return reflections of pulses to sonic transducers. Isolate transducers thermally, but not acoustically, from hot silicon melt.

Heyser, Richard C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Automatic Replenishment Of Dopant In Silicon Growth

Dopant incorporated feed pellets to maintain required concentration. Technique of continuous replenishment of dopant in silicon melt helps ensure correct resistivity in solid silicon grown from melt. Technique used in dendritic-web growth process in which ribbon of silicon continously pulled from molten material. Providing uniform doping and resistivity in ribbon technique enables production of high-quality silicon ribbon at high yields for use in semiconductor devices.

Kochka, E. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Strength of hot isostatically pressed and sintered reaction bonded silicon nitrides containing Y2O3

The hot isostatic pressing of reaction bonded Si3N4 containing Y2O3 produced specimens with greater room temperature strengths than those by high pressure nitrogen sintering of the same material. Average room temperature bend strengths for hot isostatically pressed reaction bonded silicon nitride and high pressure nitrogen sintered reaction bonded silicon nitride were 767 and 670 MPa, respectively. Values of 472 and 495 MPa were observed at 1370 C. For specimens of similar but lower Y2O3 content produced from Si3N4 powder using the same high pressure nitrogen sintering conditions, the room temperature strength was 664 MPa and the 1370 C strength was 402 MPa. The greater strengths of the reaction bonded silicon nitride materials in comparison to the sintered silicon nitride powder material are attributed to the combined effect of processing method and higher Y2O3 content.

William A Sanders↗
NASA NTRS1989

Silicon chemistry in interstellar clouds

Interstellar SiO was discovered shortly after CO but it has been detected mainly in high density and high temperature regions associated with outflow sources. A new model of interstellar silicon chemistry that explains the lack of SiO detections in cold clouds is presented which contains an exponential temperature dependence for the SiO abundance. A key aspect of the model is the sensitivity of SiO production by neutral silicon reactions to density and temperature, which arises from the dependence of the rate coefficients on the population of the excited fine structure levels of the silicon atom. This effect was originally pointed out in the context of neutral reactions of carbon and oxygen by Graff, who noted that the leading term in neutral atom-molecule interactions involves the quadrupole moment of the atom. Similar to the case of carbon, the requirement that Si has a quadrupole moment requires population of the J = 1 level, which lies 111K above the J = 0 ground state and has a critical density n(cr) equal to or greater than 10(6)/cu cm. The SiO abundance then has a temperature dependence proportional to exp(-111/T) and a quadratic density dependence for n less than n(cr). As part of the explanation of the lack of SiO detections at low temperatures and densities, this model also emphasizes the small efficiencies of the production routes and the correspondingly long times needed to reach equilibrium. Measurements of the abundance of SiO, in conjunction with theory, can provide information on the physical properties of interstellar clouds such as the abundances of oxygen bearing molecules and the depletion of interstellar silicon.

Langer, William D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Oxidation of silicon with a 5 eV O(-) beam

A silicon wafer has been oxidized at room temperature in vacuum using a pure, ground-state beam of O(-) ions. The beam was of sufficiently low energy that no displacement damage or implantation was energetically possible. The resulting SiO2 films were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A logarithmic dependence of oxide thickness on dose was observed, with an extrapolated oxidation efficiency of unity for the clean silicon surface. A distinct initial oxidation phase was observed, with an anomalously high level of silicon suboxides. In addition, the valence-band offset between the silicon and the oxide was unusually small, suggesting a large interfacial dipole.

Hecht, M. H.↗