Abstract
In order to grow crystalline silicon on glass at low temperatures for photovoltaic applications, a two-step process has been developed. In the first step, amorphous Si films are crystallized at temperatures around 300 °C by metal-induced crystallization, whereby liquid indium serves as a solvent for silicon. Due to the difference of chemical potentials between the amorphous and the crystalline state, an in-plane movement of the liquid metal droplets on the formerly amorphous Si film is accompanied by precipitation of crystalline Si along the droplets’ traces, a process we call amorphous–liquid–crystalline (ALC) transition. In the second step, the ALC seed layers serve as templates for the growth of crystalline silicon by steady-state solution growth. In contrast to common liquid-phase epitaxy, the supersaturation in front of the seed layer is established by a stationary temperature difference between a silicon source and the substrate. Si crystallites in the range of 20–50 µm with low impurity concentrations are grown by this technique. Essential features of steady-state solution growth are compatible with the float glass process in large-scale industrial glass production, which raises hopes for a successive production of glass and thin Si films for solar cells in a continuous production line.
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Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude toward Teimuraz Mchedlidze from IHP/BTU JointLab for Raman and PL measurements, RTG Mikroanalyse GmbH Berlin for SIMS measurements, Caspar Leendertz and Steffi Schönau from Hemholtz-Zentrum Berlin for support in electrical characterization and for helpful discussions, respectively, and H. P. Schramm for ongoing technical assistance. This work is co-financed by the DFG under contract number HE 6319/1-1.
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Bansen, R., Heimburger, R., Schmidtbauer, J. et al. Crystalline silicon on glass by steady-state solution growth using indium as solvent. Appl. Phys. A 119, 1577–1586 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9141-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9141-0