Search

We have developed a three dimensional Haasen-Alexander-Sumino model to investigate the distribution of dislocation density and residual strain in Si crystals and compared the calculation results with experimental data performed in mono-like and multicrystalline silicon ingots. The results show that the residual strain in a multicrystal is lower than in a mono-like crystal, whereas the dislocation density in the multicrystal is higher than that in the mono-like crystal. This phenomenon is due to the relation between dislocation density and residual strain caused by the difference of activated slip systems in a mono-like crystal and a multicrystal.

The effect of Σ3 generation on random grain boundaries (R-GBs) were investigated using multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) grown from the microcrystalline template with random orientation. There existed three cases for the contrast variation of electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) on R-GBs after Σ3 generation from them, namely decrease, increase and constant cases. No clear tendency of EBIC contrast variation was found at the initial growth stage. On the other hand, the constant case became dominant at the steady state. This result indicates that Σ3 generation does not affect the electrical activity of R-GBs.

In an attempt to understand how and where dislocations are introduced into Si ingots by temperature gradients, bulk dislocation-free FZ crystals are exposed to temperature gradients similar to those in Bridgman Si crystal growth. This heat treatment introduces dislocations, which were analyzed using X-ray topography (XRT) and Scanning InfraRed Polariscopy (SIRP). Hereby, the orientation dependency is taken into account and ingots in (001) and (111) growth orientation are evaluated in this work. It can be found that the dislocation generation takes place at similar regions of the crystal and is independent of orientation, however, their propagation and multiplication differs. This leads to an overall different shape of the dislocation network. Especially intriguing are the long slip lines in the (111)-crystal, which cannot be found in the (001)-crystal. This suggests a different magnitude of slip propagation depending on the sample orientation. This effect should be explained by a different activation of slip systems and is discussed in the paper.

We have proposed single seed cast Si growth and developed a furnace for 50 cm square ingots. By optimizing growth parameters, improving gas condition, coating, the quality of mono Si ingot has improved. Namely, dislocation density, the concentrations of substitutional carbon and interstitial oxygen have been significantly reduced. The conversion efficiency of cast Si solar cells has become comparable with those of CZ Si wafers.

We discuss the defect evolution in conventional cast and seed cast Si ingot growths for photovoltaic application. Three different cast Si ingots were grown in one directional solidification furnace. The two extremes are the seed cast ingots (mono-Si), where growth starts from monocrystalline silicon seeds, and the multicrystalline silicon grown from small randomly oriented grains. The conventional multicrystalline (mc-) cast Si ingots are grown without any seeds and have grain structures in between the two extremes. It was found that in mc-Si the evolution of grain boundaries take place in several steps. On the other hand, the major defects in mono-Si are dislocations and are generated by stress due to thermal gradient in the ingot. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Extended defects were controlled using polycrystalline silicon as a template for cast-growth of multicrystalline silicon. At the initial stage of growth, small randomly oriented grains with a high density of random type grain boundaries were obtained. With growth, the grain size increased and the fraction of random grain boundaries decreased. Electrical activity of defects was investigated and it was found that with growth, network of small angle grain boundaries became the most electrically active defects. This network of small angle grain boundaries were found to have a tilt angle less than 3° and were mainly found in elongating grains. The density of these highly electrically active grain boundaries increased with growth. This can be attributed to propagation and agglomeration of dislocations into small angle grain boundaries. The high density of random grain boundaries in this ingot may suppress dislocation propagation between grains, however they do not intersect elongating grains enabling dislocation propagation in elongated grains. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Applicability of the three-dimensional Alexander-Haasen (AH) model for the analysis of dislocation distributions in single-crystal silicon has been estimated. The numerical results obtained from the AH model agree well with the experimental data for both CZ-Si and FZ-Si crystals with the axis in the [001] direction but do not completely agree with the experimental data for the FZ-Si crystal with the axis in the [111] direction. The inapplicability of the AH model in a crystal with the axis in the [111] direction may arise from the neglect of dislocation propagation in this model, because the dislocation propagation in a crystal with the axis in the [111] direction is more active than that in a crystal with the axis in the [001] direction. Therefore, to increase the applicability of the AH model, it is necessary to include the effect of dislocation propagation.

Seed-assisted growth of mono crystalline-like Silicon (mono-like Si) ingots of 50 cm square has been performed. By controlling the shape of the liquid-solid interface, a mono-like crystal was grown from a small seed of 20 cm diameter. Several developments to reduce the carbon incorporation have been realized as can be seen from the shiny ingot surfaces. The dislocation density is reduced to the order of 10 4 cm −2 .

The residual strain distribution in cast-grown mono-like Si ingots is analyzed. The effect of the crucible during solidification and the influence of different cooling rates is described. To clarify in which process steps residual strain accumulates, several Si ingots were grown in a laboratory scale furnace (100mm) using different cooling conditions after completion of the solidification. For the cooling, two different cooling rates were distinguished: fast cooling (12deg/min) and slow cooling (5deg/min). It was found that changes in cooling gradients greatly influence the amount of residual strain. The results show that slow cooling in any temperature range leads to strain reduction. The greatest reduction could be found when the temperature gradient was changed to slow cooling in the high temperature region.

To get the optimized condition and ideal furnace structure, we have performed seed cast growth of mono-crystalline Si by using unidirectional solidification furnace. More than 20 ingots of 10 cm diameter and 10 cm height were grown under different growth conditions. The quality of ingots was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), infrared microscopy, scanning infrared polariscope (SIRP), X-ray topography, etc. We have realized reduction of carbon, residual strain and extended defects, which may contribute the increase of solar cell efficiency.

This paper concerns the precipitation mechanism of SiN x impurities in multi-crystalline silicon grown with a directional solidification system. A butterfly-shaped precipitate region was found across the middle part of ingot. These precipitates showed filament-like and fiber-like shapes of several micrometers in diameter and up to several millimeters in length. These two types of precipitates exist in different areas, forming three distribution zones in the butterfly region. The precipitate growth periodically stopped at the last stage of the butterfly formation. A non-uniform convection flow model was proposed to explain the precipitation behavior at the butterfly.

Multicrystalline silicon was grown from seeds with small grains of random orientation and the growth mechanism was studied with respect to grain size, shape, boundary character and orientation. The average grain size perpendicular to growth direction increased steadily initially, became constant and then increased steadily again. Grain size parallel to growth direction increased rapidly with growth due to grain elongation in the growth direction. Grain shape with respect to growth direction changed from spherical to columnar with growth. Initially non-CSL grain boundary fraction was very high but decreased with growth as the Σ3 grain boundary fraction increased. A simple model was proposed to explain the results.

We have grown 50 cm2 mono Si ingots by the seed cast technique. The carbon and oxygen concentrations of the ingots have been significantly reduced by improving the gas flow condition and coating. The dislocation density was also reduced by eliminating the extra dislocation generation sources. Owing to these developments, the lifetime of wafers has reached 465 µs. Finally, the efficiency of 18.7% has been achieved, which is comparable to 18.9% of the reference Czochralski (CZ) Si wafer.

Grain boundary (GB) evolution in multicrystalline silicon grown from small randomly oriented seeds was investigated by statistical analysis of GB interactions (triple junction) with respect to growth height. As grain size increased with growth, the number of GB interactions decreased. The fraction of GB annihilation interactions (which decrease the total number of GBs) is higher throughout growth and increases with growth height in comparison with that of GB generation interactions (which increase the total number of GBs). The dominant GB interaction is that involving Σ3 GBs, especially at the later stage of growth. The impact of GB interactions on grain structure evolution is also discussed.

We have epitaxially grown undoped β-FeSi2films on Si(111) substrates via atomic-hydrogen-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy.β-FeSi2filmsgrown without atomic hydrogen exhibited p-type conduction with a hole density of over 1019 cm−3 at room temperature (RT). In contrast, those prepared with atomic hydrogen showed n-type conduction and had a residual electron density that was more than two orders of magnitude lower than the hole density of filmsgrown without atomic hydrogen (of the order of 1016 cm−3 at RT). The minority-carrier diffusion length was estimated to be approximately 16 μm using an electron-beam-induced current technique; this value is twice as large as that for β-FeSi2 prepared without atomic hydrogen. This result could be well explained in terms of the minority-carrier lifetimes measured by a microwave photoconductance decay technique. The 1/e decay time using a 904 nm laser pulse was approximately 17 μs, which is much longer than that for β-FeSi2 prepared without atomic hydrogen (3 μs). The photoresponsivity reached 13 mA/W at 1.31 μm, which is the highest value ever reported for β-FeSi2films.