A high-throughput silicon epitaxy system for photovoltaic application

We have developed a high-throughput Si CVD epitaxy system for photovoltaic application. The system was designed with high throughput, low energy cost, and high utilization of precursors, thus enabling extremely low cost Si epitaxial film for photovoltaic application. The system will be capable of processing a large batch of >320 wafers in less than an hour. The novel system architecture effectively utilizes resources such as electricity and process gases, and the processing cost can be as low as $0.22 per wafer for 50 µm deposition. Initial results confirmed good power utilization and excellent film properties. As an example of application, solar cells have been fabricated with epitaxial films on wafers from ingots pulled from metallurgical Si in Czochralski method.