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PolycrystallinesiliconWikipedia

Polycrystallinesilicon
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Polycrystallinesilicon,alsocalledpolysiliconorpolySi,isa
highpurity,polycrystallineformofsilicon,usedasaraw
materialbythesolarphotovoltaicandelectronicsindustry.
Polysiliconisproducedfrommetallurgicalgradesiliconbya
chemicalpurificationprocess,calledSiemensprocess.This
processinvolvesdistillationofvolatilesiliconcompounds,and
theirdecompositionintosiliconathightemperatures.An
emerging,alternativeprocessofrefinementusesafluidized
bedreactor.Thephotovoltaicindustryalsoproducesupgraded
metallurgicalgradesilicon(UMGSi),usingmetallurgical
insteadofchemicalpurificationprocesses.Whenproducedfor
theelectronicsindustry,polysiliconcontainsimpuritylevelsof
Leftside:solarcellsmadeofmulticrystallinesilicon
lessthanonepartperbillion(ppb),whilepolycrystallinesolar
Rightside:polysiliconrod(top)andchunks
gradesilicon(SoGSi)isgenerallylesspure.Afewcompanies
(bottom)
fromChina,Germany,Japan,KoreaandtheUnitedStates,
suchasGCLPoly,WackerChemie,OCI,andHemlock
Semiconductor,aswellastheNorwegianheadquarteredREC,accountedformostoftheworldwideproductionof
about230,000tonnesin2013.[1]
Thepolysiliconfeedstocklargerods,usuallybrokenintochunksofspecificsizesandpackagedincleanrooms
beforeshipmentisdirectlycastintomulticrystallineingotsorsubmittedtoarecrystallizationprocesstogrow
singlecrystalboules.Theproductsarethenslicedintothinsiliconwafersandusedfortheproductionofsolar
cells,integratedcircuitsandothersemiconductordevices.
Polysiliconconsistsofsmallcrystals,alsoknownascrystallites,givingthematerialitstypicalmetalflakeeffect.
Whilepolysiliconandmultisiliconareoftenusedassynonyms,multicrystallineusuallyreferstocrystallslarger
than1mm.MulticrystallinesolarcellsarethemostcommontypeofsolarcellsinthefastgrowingPVmarketand
consumemostoftheworldwideproducedpolysilicon.About5tonsofpolysiliconisrequiredtomanufacture1
megawatt(MW)ofconventionalsolarmodules.[2]Polysiliconisdistinctfrommonocrystallinesiliconand
amorphoussilicon.

Contents
1 Polycrystallinevsmonocrystallinesilicon
2 Polycrystallinesiliconcomponents
2.1 FeedstockforPVindustry
3 Depositionmethods
4 Upgradedmetallurgicalgradesilicon
5 Potentialforuseofpolycrystallinesilicon
6 Novelideasforpolycrystallinesilicon
7 Manufacturers
7.1 Capacity
7.2 Price
7.2.1 Dumping
7.2.2 Waste
8 Seealso
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrystalline_silicon

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PolycrystallinesiliconWikipedia

8 Seealso
9 References
10 Externallinks

Polycrystallinevsmonocrystallinesilicon
Insinglecrystalsilicon,alsoknownasmonocrystallinesilicon,the
crystallineframeworkishomogenous,whichcanberecognizedbyaneven
externalcolouring.[3]Theentiresampleisonesingle,continuousand
unbrokencrystalasitsstructurecontainsnograinboundaries.Largesingle
crystalsarerareinnatureandcanalsobedifficulttoproduceinthe
laboratory(seealsorecrystallisation).Incontrast,inanamorphous
structuretheorderinatomicpositionsislimitedtoshortrange.
Polycrystallineandparacrystallinephasesarecomposedofanumberof
Comparingpolycrystalline(left)to
smallercrystalsorcrystallites.Polycrystallinesilicon(orsemicrystalline
monocrystalline(right)solarcells
silicon,polysilicon,polySi,orsimply"poly")isamaterialconsistingof
multiplesmallsiliconcrystals.Polycrystallinecellscanberecognizedbya
visiblegrain,a"metalflakeeffect".Semiconductorgrade(alsosolargrade)polycrystallinesiliconisconvertedto
"singlecrystal"siliconmeaningthattherandomlyassociatedcrystallitesofsiliconin"polycrystallinesilicon"are
convertedtoalarge"single"crystal.SinglecrystalsiliconisusedtomanufacturemostSibasedmicroelectronic
devices.Polycrystallinesiliconcanbeasmuchas99.9999%pure.[4]Ultrapurepolyisusedinthesemiconductor
industry,startingfrompolyrodsthataretwotothreemetersinlength.Inmicroelectronicindustry(semiconductor
industry),polyisusedbothatthemacroscaleandmicroscale(component)level.Singlecrystalsaregrownusing
theCzochralskiprocess,floatzoneandBridgmantechniques.

Polycrystallinesiliconcomponents
Atthecomponentlevel,polysiliconhaslongbeenusedastheconducting
gatematerialinMOSFETandCMOSprocessingtechnologies.Forthese
technologiesitisdepositedusinglowpressurechemicalvapourdeposition
(LPCVD)reactorsathightemperaturesandisusuallyheavilydopedntype
orptype.
Morerecently,intrinsicanddopedpolysiliconisbeingusedinlargearea
electronicsastheactiveand/ordopedlayersinthinfilmtransistors.
AlthoughitcanbedepositedbyLPCVD,plasmaenhancedchemical
vapourdeposition(PECVD),orsolidphasecrystallizationofamorphous
siliconincertainprocessingregimes,theseprocessesstillrequirerelatively
hightemperaturesofatleast300C.Thesetemperaturesmakedeposition
ofpolysiliconpossibleforglasssubstratesbutnotforplasticsubstrates.
Thedepositionofpolycrystallinesilicononplasticsubstratesismotivated
bythedesiretobeabletomanufacturedigitaldisplaysonflexiblescreens.
Arodofsemiconductorgrade
Therefore,arelativelynewtechniquecalledlasercrystallizationhasbeen
polysilicon.
devisedtocrystallizeaprecursoramorphoussilicon(aSi)materialona
plasticsubstratewithoutmeltingordamagingtheplastic.Short,high
intensityultravioletlaserpulsesareusedtoheatthedepositedaSimaterialtoabovethemeltingpointofsilicon,
withoutmeltingtheentiresubstrate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrystalline_silicon

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