Skip to main content
Log in

Analysis of microcrystal formation in DS-silicon ingot

  • Published:
Science China Technological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The DS (directional solidification) polycrystalline silicon ingot is the most important photovoltaic material today, and the conversion efficiency of solar cells is affected by the morphology and organization of the crystal. Uniform grains with larger size are conducive to get high-quality wafer, so improving the cell conversion efficiency. However, grains sizes that are less than 1 mm2 can be observed frequently in the central district of mc-Si ingots, which bring negative effect to the quality of the mc-Si ingot and decrease the electrical performance of wafer. In this paper, we make an attempt to explain the formation mechanism and influence factors of microcrystal in mc-Si ingot with computer simulation technology and theory of component supercooling. It was found that: to avoid production of microcrystal, it’s better to increase the value of G/V (V is the growth rate and G is the near-interface temperature gradient), strengthen the melt convection front in the solidification interface and keep a fairly flat solid/melt interface in producing mc-Si ingot.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Teng Y Y, Chen J C, Chung W L, et al. Crystalline front control of growing multicrystalline Si ingots during the directional solidification process. In: Proc PVSEC-18 Conference. Kolkata, India, 2009

  2. Fujiwara K, Pan W, Sawada K, et al. Directional growth method to obtain high quality polycrystalline silicon from its melt. J Cryst Growth, 2006, 292(2): 282–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Fujiwara K, Obinata Y, Nakajima K, et al. Grain growth behaviors of polycrystalline silicon during melt growth processes. J Cryst Growth, 2004, 266(4): 441–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kitamura M, Usami N, Sugawara T, et al. Growth of multicrystalline Si with controlled grain boundary configuration by the floating zone technique. J Cryst Growth, 2005, 280(3–4): 419–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fujiwara K, Pan W, Usami N, et al. Structural properties of directionally grown polycrystalline SiGe for solar cells. J Cryst Growth, 2005, 275(3–4): 467–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yao L Z. Foundation of Crystal Growth (in Chinese). Hefei: University of Science and Technology of China Press, 1995. 247

    Google Scholar 

  7. Pan J S, Tong J M, Tian M B. Foundation of Material Science (in Chinese). Bejing: Tsinghua University Press, 1998. 6: 489–506

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kalaev V V, Evstratov Y I, Makarov Y N. Gas flow effect on global heat transport and melt convection in Czochralski silicon growth. J Cryst Growth, 2003, 249(1-2): 87–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kuliev A T, Durnev N V, Kalaev V V. Analysis of 3D unsteady melt flow and crystallization front geometry during a casting process for silicon solar cells. J Cryst Growth, 2007, 303(1): 236–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Duan L, Kang Q. Study on buoyancy convection phenomenon in the crystal growth process. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci, 2009, 52(8): 2367–2372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Chen Z B, Jiang X, Zhou Z, et al. Progress in application of CFD techniques. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci, 2008, 51(7): 827–841

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. Jana S, Dost S, Kumar V, et al. A numerical simulation study for the Czochralski growth process of Si under magnetic field. Int J Eng Sci, 2006, 44(8–9): 554–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dornberger E, Tomzig E, Seidl A, et al. Thermal simulation of the Czochralski silicon growth process by three different models and comparison with experimental results. J Cryst Growth, 1997, 180(3–4): 461–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Robert A B. Theory of transport processes in single crystal growth from the melt. AIChE J, 1988, 34(6): 81–911

    Google Scholar 

  15. STR Group. CGSim Flow Module Theory Manual 3.11. St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009. 1–60

  16. STR Group. CGSim Material Database 8.12. St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009. 1–45

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to ZhiQiang Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhang, Z., Huang, Q., Huang, Z. et al. Analysis of microcrystal formation in DS-silicon ingot. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 54, 1475–1480 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-010-4271-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-010-4271-2

Keywords

Navigation