TY - JOUR
T1 - Realization of bulk multicrystalline silicon with controlled grain boundaries by utilizing spontaneous modification of grain boundary configuration
AU - Usami, Noritaka
AU - Kutsukake, Kentaro
AU - Sugawara, Takamasa
AU - Fujiwara, Kozo
AU - Pan, Wugen
AU - Nose, Yoshitaro
AU - Shishido, Toetsu
AU - Nakajima, Kazuo
PY - 2006/3/8
Y1 - 2006/3/8
N2 - We succeeded in the realization of bulk multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) with electrically inactive grain boundaries. A group of single-crystal Si wafers was used as an artificial multicrystalline seed with random grain boundaries. The crystal growth was carried out by the floating zone technique under ultrahigh vacuum at a growth rate of 1.0 mm/min. Under these conditions, most of the grain boundaries were spontaneously modified to ∑3. In contrast, random grain boundaries remained even after 40-mm growth when the growth rate was decreased to 0.2 mm/min. From these results, we suggest that the control of both the initial grain boundary configuration and the growth conditions is important to realize mc-Si with electrically inactive grain boundaries, which is a promising material for solar cell applications.
AB - We succeeded in the realization of bulk multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) with electrically inactive grain boundaries. A group of single-crystal Si wafers was used as an artificial multicrystalline seed with random grain boundaries. The crystal growth was carried out by the floating zone technique under ultrahigh vacuum at a growth rate of 1.0 mm/min. Under these conditions, most of the grain boundaries were spontaneously modified to ∑3. In contrast, random grain boundaries remained even after 40-mm growth when the growth rate was decreased to 0.2 mm/min. From these results, we suggest that the control of both the initial grain boundary configuration and the growth conditions is important to realize mc-Si with electrically inactive grain boundaries, which is a promising material for solar cell applications.
KW - Floating zone technique
KW - Multicrystalline Si
KW - Random grain boundary
KW - Solar cell
KW - ∑3 grain boundary
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U2 - 10.1143/JJAP.45.1734
DO - 10.1143/JJAP.45.1734
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33644924114
VL - 45
SP - 1734
EP - 1737
JO - Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers & Short Notes
JF - Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers & Short Notes
SN - 0021-4922
IS - 3 A
ER -