AbstractThis paper reviews the basis for phenomenological path for gettering: release, diffusionand capture in the context of old and new developments. More recent precipitation studies in silicon are now recognized to involve complex interactive effects. Controlled precipitation requires knowledge of and control of not only oxygen but carbon, native defects(related to crystal thermal history and/or process history), high doping, microfluctuations and interactions between “extrinsic” and “intrinsic” gettering.