Numerical investigation of the effect of heat shield shape on the oxygen impurity distribution at the crystal–melt interface during the process of Czochralski silicon crystal growth

Abstract In this study, a numerical simulation is performed to investigate the effect of the shape of the heat shield on the oxygen concentration in the melt. The results show that the oxygen concentration in the melt can be significantly decreased by increasing the speed of the argon gas near the crucible wall. This can be achieved by enlarging the horizontal length of the heat shield. The oxygen concentration at the melt–crystal interface varies with the length of the crystal growth. In the initial stage, there is a significant decrease in the oxygen concentration as the growth length increases. There is also a significant reduction in the emission of oxygen from the crucible wall due to the lower melt depth and crucible temperature. The transportation of oxygen impurity towards the melt–crystal interface is suppressed by the vortex motion in the melt. When the crystal exceeds a certain length, the oxygen concentration in the melt–crystal interface starts to increase with increasing crystal length, due to the drop in vortex motion in the melt.