Characterization of polycrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells sliced with novel fixed-abrasive wire

For slicing crystalline silicon ingots, we have developed a novel fixed-abrasive wire where diamond grit is fixed onto a bare wire by resin bonding. The properties of the wafers sliced using a multi-wire saw with the fixed-abrasive wire have been investigated. When compared with the wafers sliced with the loose-abrasive wire, the slicing speed is improved by approximately 2.5-fold and the thicknesses of saw-damage layers are reduced by more than a factor of two. Polycrystalline silicon solar cells have been fabricated for the first time utilizing the wafers sliced with the fixed-abrasive wire, and the cells with the saw-damage etching depth of 7 mu m have shown photovoltaic properties comparable to those prepared using the wafers sliced with the loose-abrasive wire and subsequently etched to remove the damage layers up to 15 mu m. It has been clarified that wafer slicing using the fixed-abrasive wire is promising as a next-generation slicing technique for fabrication of solar cells, particularly thin silicon cells where the wafer thicknesses approach or become less than 150 mu m. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.