The relationship between minority carrier life time and structural defects in silicon ingot grown with single seed

Abstract

Among the various possible factors affecting the Minority Carrier Life Time (MCLT) of the mc-Si crystal, dislocations formed during the cooling period after solidification were found to be a major element. It was confirmed that other defects such as grain boundary or twin boundary were not determinative defects affecting the MCLT because most of these defects seemed to be formed during the solidification period. With a measurement of total thickness variation (TTV) and bow of the silicon wafers, it was found that residual stress remaining in the mc-Si crystal might be another major factor affecting the MCLT. Thus, it is expected that better quality of mc-Si can be grown when the cooling process right after solidification is carried out as slow as possible.