Understand the advantages of the world’s most pure type of silicon
From Wikipedia
Float Zone silicon (FZ) is very pure silicon obtained by vertical zone melting. The process was developed at Bell Labs by Henry Theuerer in 1955.
In the vertical configuration molten silicon has sufficient surface tension to keep the charge from separating. The major advantage is crucibleless growth that prevents contamination of the silicon from the vessel itself and Float Zone silicon is therefore an inherently high-purity alternative to boule crystals grown by the Czochralski method.
The concentrations of light impurities, such as carbon (C) and oxygen (O2) elements, are extremely low. Another light impurity, nitrogen (N2), helps to control microdefects and also brings about an improvement in mechanical strength of the FZ wafers.
Application
Float Zone silicon is a superior material for high voltage applications and is typically used for power devices and detectors, where high resistivity is required. It is highly transparent to terahertz radiation, and is used to fabricate optical components, such as lenses and windows, for terahertz applications. It is also used in solar arrays of satellites as it has a higher conversion efficiency. A recent area of application has emerged with the advent of silicon based quantum computers.
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