Abstract
The formation of microdefects in pedestal‐grown silicon crystals was investigated by using x‐ray topography. Small‐diameter (4–5 mm) crystals were grown without crystal rotation, whereby all potential fluid flow instabilities in the melt were significantly reduced. Microdefects (most likely B‐type defects) of a uniform distribution with a density of 3×106 cm−3 were still formed in the crystal. No microdefects were present, however, in regions close to the crystal rim, apparently due to the out‐diffusion of point defects responsible for the formation of the microdefects; the estimated diffusion coefficient is about 1×10−5 cm2/sec in the temperature range ∼1000–1400 °C.