Removal of Boron in Silicon by H₂-H2O Gas Mixtures

The removal of boron in pure silicon by gas mixtures has been examined in the laboratory. Water-vapor-saturated hydrogen was used to remove boron doped in electronic-grade silicon in a vacuum frequency furnace. Boron concentrations in silicon were reduced from 52 ppm initially to 0.7 ppm and 3.4 ppm at 1450°C and 1500°C, respectively, after blowing a H₂-3.2%H₂O gas mixture for 180 min. The experimental results indicate that the boron removal as a function of gas-blowing time follows the law of exponential decay. After 99% of the boron is removed, approximately 90% of the silicon can be recovered. In order to better understand the gaseous refining mechanism, the quantum chemical coupled cluster with single and double excitations and a perturbative treatment of triple excitations method was used to accurately predict the enthalpy and entropy of formation of the HBO molecule. A simple refining model was then used to describe the boron refining process. This model can be used to optimize the refining efficiency.