
175
6
Evaluation of Silicon Wafers
6.1 Introduction
The performance of silicon-based semiconductors has been greatly improved due to the
development of ultra large scale integration (ULSI) technology up to the submicron design
rule. Therefore, the quality of silicon wafers has become even more important, since near-
surface defects, which are generated during a mechanical polishing process, greatly affect
and deteriorate device performance. The silicon wafer industry requires methods to evalu-
ate and characterize single-crystal semiconductors that are nondestructive and relatively
simple to analyze a structurally damaged thin layer near the surface ...