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Evidence and Characterization of Crystallographic Defect and Material Quality after SLIM-Cut Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Alex Masolin ,
Jan Vaes ,
Frederic Dross ,
Roberto Martini ,
Amaia Pesquera Rodriguez ,
Jef Poortmans  and
Robert Mertens
Alex Masolin
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium imec, Leuven, Belgium
Jan Vaes
Affiliation:
imec, Leuven, Belgium
Frederic Dross
Affiliation:
imec, Leuven, Belgium
Roberto Martini
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Amaia Pesquera Rodriguez
Affiliation:
University of Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain
Jef Poortmans
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium imec, Leuven, Belgium
Robert Mertens
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium imec, Leuven, Belgium
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Abstract

The SLIM-Cut process is a kerf-free wafering technique to obtain silicon substrates as thin as 50μm. The quality of the resulting material must be assessed to ensure that this innovative Si-foil approach does not jeopardize the potential efficiency of the final solar cell in terms of electronic activity, defect density and location. For that reason, we performed Microwave-Detected Photoconductance Decay (MW-PCD), Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and optical inspections after defect etching of the foils surface. Analyses indicate that SLIM-Cut generates crystallographic defects which create deep level traps that have a negative impact on the lifetime of the silicon foil. Nonetheless, a decrease of the thermal budget will lead to a reduction of plasticity and hence lower the amount of defects and increase the foil quality.

Keywords

crystallographic structuredefectsSi
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1323: Symposium C – Advanced Materials Processing for Scalable Solar-Cell Manufacturing , 2011 , mrss11-1323-c04-05
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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