LOW COST HIGH RESISTIVITY FLOAT-ZONE SILICON DIODES

HIGH RESISTIVITY SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON IS NECESSARY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF LARGE-AREA SILICON DIODES. UNIFORMITY OF DOPANTS IN THE X, Y, AND Z DIRECTIONS OF THE DIODE IS IMPORTANT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SENSITIVE AND STANDARDIZED DIODES. MULTIPASS FLOAT ZONING IN VACUUM OF HIGH PURITY POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON WILL REMOVE N-TYPE DOPANT ELEMENTS AND METALLIC IMPURITIES, AND PRODUCE HIGH RESISTIVITY (HIGH PURITY) SILICON. A LAST ZONE PASS IN ARGON GAS WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE DISLOCATION-FREE SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON WITH THE DESIRED HIGH RESISTIVITY AND UNIFORMITY NECESSARY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE SILICON DIODES REQUIRED FOR EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED ON THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER. THE KEY FACTORS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT ARE HIGH PURITY STARTING MATERIAL (POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON), GREAT CONCERN FOR CLEANLINESS, AND EXPERIENCE IN PRODUCING HIGH RESISTIVITY SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON. A COST OF LESS THAN $10/GRAM SHOULD RESULT FROM THIS RESEARCH.