Determination of crystal grain orientations by optical microscopy at textured surfaces

Abstract

In this contribution, a new method to determine the crystal orientation with the example of chemical treated silicon wafers by means of optical microscopy has been demonstrated. The introduced procedure represents an easy method to obtain all relevant parameters to describe the crystal structure of the investigated material, i.e., the crystal grain orientation and the grain boundary character. The chemical treatment is a standard mono-texture for solar cells, well known in the solar industry. In general, this concept can also be applied to other crystalline materials, i.e., GaAs, SiC, etc., the only thing that needs to be adjusted is the texturing method to reveal specific crystal planes and the calculation model. In conclusion, an application of this method is shown with the example of the defect classification of recombination active defects in mc-Si solar cell. The introduced method demonstrates a simple and quick opportunity to improve the crystallization process and the quality of electronic devices by means of an optical microscope and a chemical treatment of the material.