Patent ID: 7732352

Claim:
A method of fabricating a silicon wafer comprising: preparing a silicon wafer having a front surface, a back surface, a central axis, a circumferential edge portion and a region between the front and back surfaces; performing a first rapid thermal process to consume vacancies in the silicon wafer, thereby accelerating a formation of nuclei of oxygen precipitates; and, performing a second rapid thermal process to remove the nuclei of the oxygen precipitates located in a region near the front surface of the silicon wafer and to further accelerate the growth of the nuclei of the oxygen precipitates located in a bulk region of the silicon wafer; wherein, after the first rapid thermal process and the second rapid thermal process: the region between the front and back surfaces comprises a first denuded zone being formed up to a predetermined distance from the front surface and a second denuded zone being formed up to a predetermined distance from the back surface; the bulk region is located between the first and second denuded zones; and a first concentration distribution of defects in the bulk region is maintained substantially constant in an axial direction from the front surface to the back surface.