A disadvantage of CZ crystal growth is the dissolution of the crucible during the heating process and the resulting contamination of the silicon. The CZ process produces a silicon product of a lower quality than the FZ technology, and it is more energy intensive and considerably more time-consuming.
The cost of crucibles adds to production cost, as a new crucible is required for each crystal growth. Despite this, the spot price of CZ wafers is lower than that of FZ wafers due to the high production volumes, e.g. for microchips.
A special variant of CZ silicon is the CZ-EPI – a technology involving the application of a crystalline layer of silicon on a polished CZ wafer which improves the conducting properties of the wafer.
The CZ-EPI product properties match the FZ-based FZ-PFZ product in several ways and can therefore be used for the low and the medium power markets.
