The Effect of Nitrogen and Oxygen Concentration on the Crystal Originated Particles in Cz‐Si: Size, Density, and Distribution

The relentless scaling of process nodes imposes ever‐tighter limits on permissible defect sizes in silicon, the foundational substrate of modern microelectronics. Void‐type defects are especially detrimental, degrading gate‐oxide integrity and device yield in metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MOSFETs). In this work, we characterize the size, areal density, and spatial distribution of non‐cleanable light point defects (LPDNs) associated with crystal‐originated particles (COPs) on Czochralski‐grown silicon (Cz‐Si) wafers using localized light‐scattering inspection. We further elucidate their dependence on dissolved nitrogen and oxygen. The measurements reveal that in nitrogen‐doped Cz‐Si, the COP size diminishes with increasing nitrogen concentration, whereas elevated oxygen produces the opposite trend. COP areal density likewise decreases with nitrogen and increases with oxygen. We attribute these opposing tendencies to the competition between nitrogen‐vacancy and nitrogen–oxygen complex formation during crystal growth and cooling. Spatial mapping shows that large COPs concentration near the wafer center, consistent with the thermal history and radial gradients in vacancy supersaturation. These results clarify how nitrogen and oxygen jointly modulate COP nucleation and growth in Cz‐Si, and they provide actionable guidance for defect engineering to safeguard gate‐oxide reliability at advanced technology nodes.