GROWTH OF POLYSILICON SHEETS ON A CARBON SHAPER BY THE RAD PROCESS

The growth of polysilicon sheets on a continuous carbon shaper using the RAD process is reported. The basic aspects of the RAD process and the characteristics of the carbon shaper are described. It is shown that layers 5 cm in width and 100 µm in thickness can be grown at pulling rates of 10 cm/min with a crystallinity similar to that of self-supporting silicon ribbons. The present solar cells made from this material, using the carbon shaper as a back-contact, have an air-mass-one (AM1) conversion efficiency of nearly 10%.