09-01-2020 дата публикации
Номер: US20200010978A1
A crucible for growing silicon ingots may include a vessel having a bottom wall and side walls surrounding an inner portion of the vessel. A coating layer is applied to inner surfaces of the bottom wall and the side walls, the coating layer including a temperature-resistant material compatible with ingot growth from molten silicon such as silicon nitride. A patterned protrusion layer is applied at the inner surface of the bottom wall, which includes a matrix consisting of a temperature-resistant material compatible with ingot growth from molten silicon such as silicon nitride. Furthermore, the patterned protrusion layer includes particles of a nucleation enhancing material such as silica, the particles locally protruding from the matrix. The protruding particles may generate a pattern of multiple nucleation points during crystal growth of the ingot. Due to such multiple nucleation points, a dislocation density defect propagation towards a top may be reduced during crystal growth such that, e.g., solar cells produced with wafers sliced from the resulting ingot may have an improved conversion efficiency. 1. A crucible for growing silicon ingots , the crucible comprising:a vessel having a bottom wall and side walls surrounding an inner portion of the vessel;a coating layer applied to inner surfaces of the bottom wall and the side walls, the coating layer comprising a temperature-resistant material compatible with ingot growth from molten silicon;a patterned protrusion layer applied at the inner surface of the bottom wall, the patterned protrusion layer comprising a matrix consisting of silicon nitride and further comprising particles of a nucleation enhancing material which is adapted for forming a wetting agent when in contact with a liquid silicon melt, the particles locally protruding from the matrix.2. The crucible of claim 1 , wherein the patterned protrusion layer is applied to the inner surface of the bottom wall exclusively.3. The crucible of claim 1 , wherein ...
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