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We have developed a three dimensional Haasen-Alexander-Sumino model to investigate the distribution of dislocation density and residual strain in Si crystals and compared the calculation results with experimental data performed in mono-like and multicrystalline silicon ingots. The results show that the residual strain in a multicrystal is lower than in a mono-like crystal, whereas the dislocation density in the multicrystal is higher than that in the mono-like crystal. This phenomenon is due to the relation between dislocation density and residual strain caused by the difference of activated slip systems in a mono-like crystal and a multicrystal.

The effect of Σ3 generation on random grain boundaries (R-GBs) were investigated using multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) grown from the microcrystalline template with random orientation. There existed three cases for the contrast variation of electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) on R-GBs after Σ3 generation from them, namely decrease, increase and constant cases. No clear tendency of EBIC contrast variation was found at the initial growth stage. On the other hand, the constant case became dominant at the steady state. This result indicates that Σ3 generation does not affect the electrical activity of R-GBs.

Applicability of the three-dimensional Alexander-Haasen (AH) model for the analysis of dislocation distributions in single-crystal silicon has been estimated. The numerical results obtained from the AH model agree well with the experimental data for both CZ-Si and FZ-Si crystals with the axis in the [001] direction but do not completely agree with the experimental data for the FZ-Si crystal with the axis in the [111] direction. The inapplicability of the AH model in a crystal with the axis in the [111] direction may arise from the neglect of dislocation propagation in this model, because the dislocation propagation in a crystal with the axis in the [111] direction is more active than that in a crystal with the axis in the [001] direction. Therefore, to increase the applicability of the AH model, it is necessary to include the effect of dislocation propagation.

Seed-assisted growth of mono crystalline-like Silicon (mono-like Si) ingots of 50 cm square has been performed. By controlling the shape of the liquid-solid interface, a mono-like crystal was grown from a small seed of 20 cm diameter. Several developments to reduce the carbon incorporation have been realized as can be seen from the shiny ingot surfaces. The dislocation density is reduced to the order of 10 4 cm −2 .

This paper concerns the precipitation mechanism of SiN x impurities in multi-crystalline silicon grown with a directional solidification system. A butterfly-shaped precipitate region was found across the middle part of ingot. These precipitates showed filament-like and fiber-like shapes of several micrometers in diameter and up to several millimeters in length. These two types of precipitates exist in different areas, forming three distribution zones in the butterfly region. The precipitate growth periodically stopped at the last stage of the butterfly formation. A non-uniform convection flow model was proposed to explain the precipitation behavior at the butterfly.

a -Axis-oriented undoped n -BaSi 2 epitaxial films were grown on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy, and the crystalline quality and grain boundaries were investigated by means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The grain size of the BaSi 2 films was estimated to be approximately 0.1–0.3 μm, and straight grain boundaries (GBs) were observed in the plan-view TEM images. Dark-field TEM images under a two-beam diffraction condition showed that these GBs consist mostly of BaSi 2 {011} planes. The diffusion length of minority carriers in n -BaSi 2 was found to be approximately 10 μm by an electron-beam-induced current technique.

Multicrystalline silicon was grown from seeds with small grains of random orientation and the growth mechanism was studied with respect to grain size, shape, boundary character and orientation. The average grain size perpendicular to growth direction increased steadily initially, became constant and then increased steadily again. Grain size parallel to growth direction increased rapidly with growth due to grain elongation in the growth direction. Grain shape with respect to growth direction changed from spherical to columnar with growth. Initially non-CSL grain boundary fraction was very high but decreased with growth as the Σ3 grain boundary fraction increased. A simple model was proposed to explain the results.