STRUCTURE AND PRECIPITATION ON A SIGMA=13 TILT GRAIN-BOUNDARY IN SILICON

The structure of a SIGMA = 13 (510), [001] pure tilt grain boundary in a Czochralski-grown silicon bicrystal was characterized by high-resolution electron microscopy. The observed boundary exhibited a coincident site lattice periodicity but had an aperiodic interface dislocation core structure. Discrete impurity precipitate particles were observed at the boundary. High-spatial-resolution electron-energy-loss-spectroscopy analysis showed them to be oxide particles of the form SiOx, with 0 < x < 1. The role of oxygen as an intrinsic impurity in the bicrystal on the structure of the boundary and on the oxide precipitation at the boundary is briefly discussed.