The impact on mc-Si ingot grown in a directional solidification furnace by partially replacing the susceptor bottom with an insulation material: A numerical investigation

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth 2023-04, Vol.607, p.127130, Article 127130
• Main Authors: Keerthivasan, T., Liu, Xin, Srinivasan, M., Usami, Noritaka, Anbu, G., Aravindan, G., Ramasamy, P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A1: Directional solidification; A1: Interfaces; A1: Stresses; B2: Semiconducting Silicon
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2023.127130

•The mc-Si ingots were produced in two furnaces: conventional and modified susceptor.•Temp & m/c interface shapes were compared at different growth fractions.•Optimized susceptor design shows better stress and dislocation distribution.•Modified susceptor grown ingot is of high quality by consuming less power. Directional solidification (DS) is the major process for growing the multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) ingots with low cost and low power consumption. Here, the investigation of mc-Si growth has been carried out by two-dimensional numerical simulations on the simplified axisymmetric DS furnace. The mc-Si ingots were grown in the DS furnace with conventional susceptor and a furnace with partially replaced susceptor bottom. The susceptor bottom of size 278 mm × 42 mm × 20 mm is partially replaced with an insulation material. The temperature distribution and melt-crystal interface shape of the grown ingots were analysed at 25%, 50% and 75% of the solidification fraction. The von Mises stress and max shear stress were investigated on both the ingots at the end of the DS-Si process. The better quality mc-Si ingot with low power consumption has been attained by the partial replacement of susceptor bottom with insulation block.