Segregation phenomena in large-size cast multicrystalline Si ingots

In cast multicrystalline silicon ingots impurity concentrations vary along the ingot height due to segregation phenomena during the directional solidification. It is expected that these concentrations are the highest at the top of the ingot which solidifies last. The bottom of the ingot which solidifies first, and which is longer in contact with the crucible floor is contaminated by solid state diffusion. As a consequence, lifetime (τn) and diffusion length (Ln) of minority carriers are the highest in the central part of the ingot and decrease strongly in the top as well as at the bottom. However, the impurity concentration is so high at the extremities of the ingot that additional solid state segregation phenomena occur at extended defects, which extract impurities from the adjacent grains. That is revealed at grain boundaries (GBs) by τn and Ln scan maps and also by the variation of the mobility of the majority carriers which cross GBs.