Self-organized vertically aligned single-crystal silicon nanostructures with controlled shape and aspect ratio by reactive plasma etching

2009 ◽  
Vol 95 (11) ◽  
pp. 111505 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Xu ◽  
I. Levchenko ◽  
S. Y. Huang ◽  
K. Ostrikov
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Silicon Nanostructures ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Reactive Plasma ◽  
Vertically Aligned

A Study on the Damage Layer Removal of Single-Crystal Silicon Wafer After Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Etching

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijia Guo ◽  
Senthil Kumar Anantharajan ◽  
Xinquan Zhang ◽  
Hui Deng
Keyword(s):  
Single Crystal ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Etching Process ◽  
Wafer Surface ◽  
Etching Time ◽  
Crystal Silicon

Abstract In this study, atmospheric-pressure (AP) plasma generated using He/O2/CF4 mixture as feed gas was used to etch the single-crystal silicon (100) wafer and the characteristics of the etched surface were investigated. The wafer morphology and surface elemental composition were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The XPS results reveal that the fluorine element will be deposited on the wafer surface during the etching process when oxygen was not introduced as the feed gas. By detecting the energy and intensity of emitted particles, optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is used to identify the radicals in plasma. The fluorocarbon radicals generated during CF4 plasma ionization can form carbon fluoride polymer, which is considered as one factor to suppress the etching process. The roughness was measured to be changed with the increase in the etching time. The surface appears to be rougher at first when the plasma etching occurred on the subsurface damaged (SSD) layer, and the subsurface cracks would show on the surface after a short-time etching. After the damaged layer was fully removed, etching resulted in the formation of square-opening etching pits. During extended etching, the individual etching pits grew up and coalesced with one another; this coalescence provided an improved surface roughness. This study explains the AP plasma etching mechanism, and the formation of anisotropic surface etching pits at a microscale level for promoting the micromachining process.

Semi-automatic, volume production of silicon solar cells

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 892-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Thomas ◽  
C. E. Norman ◽  
S. Varma ◽  
G. Schwartz ◽  
E. M. Absi
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Volume Production ◽  
P Type

A low-cost, high-yield technology for producing single-crystal silicon solar cells at high volumes, and suitable for export to developing countries, is described. The process begins with 100 mm diameter as-sawn single-crystal p-type wafers with one primary flat. Processing steps include etching and surface texturization, gaseous-source diffusion, plasma etching, and contacting via screen printing. The necessary adaptations of such standard processes as diffusion and plasma etching to solar-cell production are detailed. New process developments include a high-throughput surface-texturization technique, and automatic printing and firing of cell contacts.The technology, coupled with automated equipment developed specifically for the purpose, results in solar cells with an average efficiency greater than 12%, a yield exceeding 95%, a tight statistical spread on parameters, and a wide tolerance to starting substrates (including the first 100 mm diameter wafers made in Canada). It is shown that with minor modifications, the present single shift 500 kWp (kilowatt peak) per year capacity technology can be readily expanded to 1 MWp per year, adapted to square and polycrystalline substrates, and efficiencies increased above 13%.

Fabrication of high aspect ratio self-aligned stepped polysilicon electrode for single-crystal silicon microstructure

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1319-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weilong You ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Xiaofei Wang ◽  
Wenshan Wei ◽  
Weifeng Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
High Aspect Ratio ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Crystal Silicon
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