2006 Volume 70 Issue 1 Pages 43-46
The removal of phosphorus and antimony from molten silicon under low vacuum conditions has been investigated by using a glow discharge electron gun. The gun could generate electron beam and melt silicon at the low vacuum of 5-7 Pa. Phosphorus and antimony in silicon were evaporated and removed from silicon by the electron beam melting: the concentration of phosphorus decreased from about 200 ppm to about 1 ppm in one hour and that of antimony was reduced from about 300 ppm to below 0.1 ppm in 5 minutes. The removal rates obtained at the low vacuum were almost the same as those observed under high vacuum conditions.
