Bruker tool detects oxygen in silicon ingots
Bruker Optics has announced the Bruker SiBrickScan, said to be the first at-line FTIR instrument allowing for the quantification of interstitial oxygen in complete silicon bricks and ingots. In contrast to classical approaches, the SBS does not require the preparation of thin samples, but directly determines the oxygen gradient along the ingot main axis, and is suitable for fast and economic quality control.
Interstitial Oxygen quantification by FT-IR spectroscopy (ASTM/SEMI 1188) is a well-known and important analysis method, but limited to thin silicon samples in the low millimeter range. SiBrickScan overcomes this limitation and is reportedly the first commercially available system to determine the oxygen gradient in complete ingots along their major axis without the need for time-consuming and destructive thin sample preparation.
SBS makes smart use of a related infrared overtone absorption band combined with reliable and state-of-the-art Bruker technology.
Knowing the oxygen gradient of silicon ingots can help to control and optimize the silicon crystallization process, or to identify batches of bad raw material. Therefore, SBS will help to save costs by optimizing product quality and reducing the number of defective wafers. The random sampling of individual ingots can significantly reduce the number of sample preparation efforts required, and it provides relevant information much earlier than previous methods.