HIGH SPEED SHEET GROWTH OF THIN SILICON

A NOVEL SILICON DEPOSITION PROCESS CAPABLE OF DEPOSITING HIGH QUALITY THIN-FILM SILICON LAYERS ON LOW COST SUPPORTING SUBSTRATES WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN PHASE I. THE SUBSTRATE WILL INCLUDE A REFLECTOR FOR LIGHT TRAPPING. THE PLANNED DEPOSITION PROCESS WILL ALLOW THE FORMATION OF SILICON LAYERS 20 TO 30 MICRONS THICK, OPTIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE OF CRYSTALLINE SILICON AS A SOLAR CELL MATERIAL. THIS NEW METHOD OF DEPOSITING THIN SILICON LAYERS IS BASED ON AN EXTENSION OF EXISTING WELL DEVELOPED METALLURGICAL PROCESSES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO DEVELOP THE DEPOSITION PROCESS TO PRODUCE 20 TO 30 MICRON THICK LAYERS OF SILICON CONTINUOUSLY. THE ADVANTAGES OF SUCH A PROCESS WILL INCLUDE (1) HIGH DEPOSITION RATES (UP TO 100 TIMES HIGHER THAN CONVENTION CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION), (2) CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION, (3) HIGH PURITY, AND (4) LOW COST. AS-DEPOSITED FILMS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR EFFICIENCY POTENTIAL.