Effect of the packing structure of silicon chunks on the melting process and carbon reduction in Czochralski silicon crystal growth

Carbon (C) contamination in Czochralski silicon (CZ-Si) crystal growth mainly originates from carbon monoxide (CO) generation on the graphite components, which reaches a maximum during the melting stage. Loading a crucible with poly-Si feedstock includes many technical details for optimization of the melting and growth processes. To investigate the effect of the packing structure of Si chunks on C accumulation in CZ-Si crystal growth, transient global simulations of heat and mass transport were performed for the melting process with different packing structures of poly-Si. The heat transport modeling took into account the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of the Si feedstock, which is affected by the packing structure. The effect of the chunk size on the melting process and C accumulation were investigated by parametric studies of different packing structures. The heat transport and melting process in the crucible were affected by the ETC and the emissivity of the Si feedstock. It was found that smaller Si chunks packed in the upper part could speed up the melting process and smooth the power profile. Decreasing the duration of the melting process is favorable for reduction of C contamination in the Si feedstock. Parametric studies indicated that optimization of the melting process by the packing structure is possible and essential for C reduction in CZ-Si crystal growth.