Crystallization of multicrystalline silicon from reusable silicon nitride crucibles: Material properties and solar cell efficiency

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 504; pp. 51 - 55
• Main Authors: Bellmann, M.P., Stokkan, G., Ciftja, A., Denafas, J., Kaden, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15-12-2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: A1. Impurities; A2. Growth from melt; Aluminum; B3. Solar cell; Carrier lifetime; Charge distribution; Crucibles; Crystallization; Current carriers; Efficiency; Fourier transforms; Infrared analysis; Ingots; Material properties; Neutron activation analysis; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Silicon nitride; Solar cells; A2. Growth from melt; A1. Impurities; B3. Solar cell
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2018.09.026

•Reusable silicon nitride crucible for mc-silicon ingot growth.•Five times use demonstrated.•Similar material performance as ingots grown from electronic grade crucibles.•Crucible self-purification.•More cost-efficient as conventional silica-based solar crucibles.
In this paper experimental results on High Performance multicrystalline silicon ingots (HPmc-Si) grown from reusable silicon nitride crucibles are presented. Five ingots are grown from the same crucible and the material is analyzed for carbon and oxygen, and metallic impurities, by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), respectively. Microwave Photoconductance Decay (μW-PCD) and Quasi-Steady-State Photoconductance (QSSPC) is applied on samples to reveal the resulting charge carrier lifetime distribution. Full-area aluminum back surface field (BSF) solar cells are processed from 156 mm × 156 mm wafers and the solar cell efficiency is analyzed. Material properties and solar cell efficiencies are comparable to reference material grown from high purity electronic grade (EG) quartz crucibles. Obtained results are discussed with respect to results published recently.