Silicon

Silicon (Latin: silicium) is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, silicon is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon. It is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, making up 25.7% of it by weight. It occurs in clay, feldspar, granite, quartz and sand, mainly in the form of silicon dioxide (also known as silica) and silicates (compounds containing silicon, oxygen and metals). Silicon is the principal component of glass, cement, ceramics, most semiconductor devices, and silicones, the latter a plastic substance often confused with silicon. Silicon is widely used in semiconductors because the semiconductor Germanium has a problem with reverse leakage current flow, and because its native oxide forms better semiconductor/dielectric interfaces than almost all other material combinations.

Crystallization

The majority of silicon crystals grown for device production are produced by the Czochralski process, since it is the cheapest method available. However, silicon single-crystals grown by the Czochralski method contain impurities since the crucible which contains the melt dissolves. For certain electronic devices, particularly those required for high power applications, silicon grown by the Czochralski method is not pure enough. For these applications, float-zone silicon (FZ-Si) can be used instead.

Related Topics:
Czochralski process - Crucible - Float-zone silicon

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