Concentration of native point defects in Si single crystals at high temperatures

The concentration of dominant native defects in a float-zoned Si single crystal at high temperatures was directly determined from the difference between the macroscopic linear thermal expansion and the lattice-parameter thermal expansion. The concentration fraction of native defects in thermal equilibrium at 1300 K is (3.6±{}2.7)×{}10^-7, or (1.8±{}1.3)×{}10¹⁶ atoms cm^-3. It is found that vacancies are predominant over interstitial atoms in concentration.