Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons
The Silicon on Dust Substrate (SDS) is a gas-to-wafer process that produces multicrystalline silicon ribbons directly from gaseous feedstock (silane), avoiding the standard industry steps of polysilicon deposition, crystal growth, and wafering. The SDS technique consists of three main steps: (i) mic...
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Metals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/3/452 |
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| author | Filipe Serra Ivo Costa José A. Silva João M. Serra |
| author_facet | Filipe Serra Ivo Costa José A. Silva João M. Serra |
| author_sort | Filipe Serra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Silicon on Dust Substrate (SDS) is a gas-to-wafer process that produces multicrystalline silicon ribbons directly from gaseous feedstock (silane), avoiding the standard industry steps of polysilicon deposition, crystal growth, and wafering. The SDS technique consists of three main steps: (i) micrometric-sized silicon powder production by grinding silicon chunks; (ii) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon over this silicon powder substrate; and (iii) zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR) of the nanocrystalline pre-ribbon obtained in the CVD step. Several samples were produced by this technique. During CVD, mechanically self-sustained nanocrystalline pre-ribbons were grown over silicon powder substrates, with growth rates in the order of 50 µm/min. The ZMR process performance is substantially impacted by the pre-ribbon physical characteristics. The best and largest recrystallizations were achieved on pre-ribbons grown over powder substrates with smaller particle sizes, which also have lower substrate powder incorporation ratios. Multicrystalline silicon ribbons with crystalline areas as large as 2 × 4 cm<sup>2</sup> were successfully produced. These areas have visible columnar crystal growth with crystal lengths up to 1 cm. The SDS ribbons’ measured resistivity confirmed the high powder content of the resulting material. The ability to produce solar cells on SDS multicrystalline silicon ribbons was demonstrated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:11:22Z |
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| id | doaj.art-74df2d3cac3f4925bec9d575460a6bc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4701 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:11:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-74df2d3cac3f4925bec9d575460a6bc02023-11-17T12:37:57ZengMDPI AGMetals2075-47012023-02-0113345210.3390/met13030452Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon RibbonsFilipe Serra0Ivo Costa1José A. Silva2João M. Serra3Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalInstituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalThe Silicon on Dust Substrate (SDS) is a gas-to-wafer process that produces multicrystalline silicon ribbons directly from gaseous feedstock (silane), avoiding the standard industry steps of polysilicon deposition, crystal growth, and wafering. The SDS technique consists of three main steps: (i) micrometric-sized silicon powder production by grinding silicon chunks; (ii) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon over this silicon powder substrate; and (iii) zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR) of the nanocrystalline pre-ribbon obtained in the CVD step. Several samples were produced by this technique. During CVD, mechanically self-sustained nanocrystalline pre-ribbons were grown over silicon powder substrates, with growth rates in the order of 50 µm/min. The ZMR process performance is substantially impacted by the pre-ribbon physical characteristics. The best and largest recrystallizations were achieved on pre-ribbons grown over powder substrates with smaller particle sizes, which also have lower substrate powder incorporation ratios. Multicrystalline silicon ribbons with crystalline areas as large as 2 × 4 cm<sup>2</sup> were successfully produced. These areas have visible columnar crystal growth with crystal lengths up to 1 cm. The SDS ribbons’ measured resistivity confirmed the high powder content of the resulting material. The ability to produce solar cells on SDS multicrystalline silicon ribbons was demonstrated.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/3/452photovoltaicsilicon powdersilicon feedstockmetallurgysilicon ribbonschemical vapor deposition |
| spellingShingle | Filipe Serra Ivo Costa José A. Silva João M. Serra Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons Metals photovoltaic silicon powder silicon feedstock metallurgy silicon ribbons chemical vapor deposition |
| title | Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons |
| title_full | Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons |
| title_fullStr | Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons |
| title_short | Optical Recrystallization of Nanocrystalline Silicon Ribbons |
| title_sort | optical recrystallization of nanocrystalline silicon ribbons |
| topic | photovoltaic silicon powder silicon feedstock metallurgy silicon ribbons chemical vapor deposition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/3/452 |
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