CA1087718A - Method for producing a layer of crystalline silicon - Google Patents

Method for producing a layer of crystalline silicon

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Publication number
CA1087718A
CA1087718A CA285,826A CA285826A CA1087718A CA 1087718 A CA1087718 A CA 1087718A CA 285826 A CA285826 A CA 285826A CA 1087718 A CA1087718 A CA 1087718A
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Prior art keywords
substrate
silicon
crystalline
sodium thallium
sodium
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Expired
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CA285,826A
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French (fr)
Inventor
Norman E. Reitz
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Sotec Corp
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Sotec Corp
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C30—CRYSTAL GROWTH
    • C30B—SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C30B29/00—Single crystals or homogeneous polycrystalline material with defined structure characterised by the material or by their shape
    • C30B29/02—Elements
    • C30B29/06—Silicon
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C30—CRYSTAL GROWTH
    • C30B—SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C30B25/00—Single-crystal growth by chemical reaction of reactive gases, e.g. chemical vapour-deposition growth
    • C30B25/02—Epitaxial-layer growth
    • C30B25/18—Epitaxial-layer growth characterised by the substrate
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02367—Substrates
    • H01L21/0237—Materials
    • H01L21/02425—Conductive materials, e.g. metallic silicides
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02518—Deposited layers
    • H01L21/02521—Materials
    • H01L21/02524—Group 14 semiconducting materials
    • H01L21/02532—Silicon, silicon germanium, germanium
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02612—Formation types
    • H01L21/02617—Deposition types
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/18—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of these devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L31/1804—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of these devices or of parts thereof comprising only elements of Group IV of the Periodic System
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/547—Monocrystalline silicon PV cells
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/025—Deposition multi-step
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/12—Photocathodes-Cs coated and solar cell
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/122—Polycrystalline
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/15—Silicon on sapphire SOS
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/152—Single crystal on amorphous substrate
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
    • Y10S148/169—Vacuum deposition, e.g. including molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

METHOD FOR PRODUCING A LAYER OF CRYSTALLINE SILICON
Abstract of the Disclosure Relates to a method for producing a product comprising crystalline silicon on a sodium thallium type substrate by application of silicon atoms gradually to that substrate whereby oriented overgrowth occurs and also to the product produced by said method. The product is useful in semiconductor and solar cell applications.

Description

Back~round of the Invention Field of the Invention -This invention rela~es to a method or producing a layer ol crystalline sili~on and, more particularly, relates to a method ~or producin~ a layer of crystalline silicon by oriented crystalline overgrowth of sllicon on a sodium thallium type (dual diamond) crystalline substrate.
Prior Art One of the pri~ary llmitations in reducin~ the cost o~
sol~r cells for terrestrial applications is the utili~ai on of a manu~acturing ssquence which requires the production of hi~hly pure semiconductor gr2de polycryst~line silicon, the growth of crys~al s~licon in b.~lk, typic~lly in the form of cylindrical ingo~s, and the sa~lng ~f these in~ots into discrete slices. By the time the actual solar cell processin~ occurs, ~.e~, t~e formation of a p-n junction and a~plication of electrical contacts, the greatest portion of the product cost has been in~urred. This results from the ~act that the manu-facturing sequence described above re~ults in considera~le material loss ~t the sawin~ stage since the '.~erl or "sa~dust"

7 osses can amount to abou~ 50,~; of the original ingot. Also, the thicl~ness of the finished wafer, on the order ~f 200 m to 400 m, is many times the thickness actually- requ~red to produce a satisfacto~J solar cell. Additionally, not only is a great amount of material wasted or unused but the process itself is costly, time consuming, requires large amounts of energy and se~erely separates the beg~nning of the materials chain from the finished product.
The nucleation of semiconductor silicon material on suitable substrate material has been the ob~ective of numerous research efforts. See e.g., T.L. Chu, et al, "Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cells for Terrestrial Applicakions", 11th Photo-voltaic Specialists Conference Report 1975, p. 303. The gener21 approach has been to find a substrate material ~hich is inex-pensive, easy to handle, does not interfere electronically withthe solar cell to be formed and is susceptible to incorporation in a continuous manufacturing operation. This approach has led to the selection of non-silicon substrates and o~ metallurgical silicon substrates. Glass, plastic and varlous metals haYe been cor.sidered as candidate substrates. The obstacles to date to the development of an acceptable method are the quality of the crystal produced and the rate o~ nucleation of silicon on the substrates. Only relati~ely low efficienc~es on the order of a few per cent have been obtained with solar cells fabricated with thin film silicon material produced on such substrates. Ideally, one w~uld want to be able to cont~nu-ously produce a laye~ of crystalline silicon on a suitable substrate with a su~iciently high degree of crystalline pe~ection to producP a solar cell with an acceptab}e ef~iciency.
-2 It is an ob~ect, therefore, of the present invent~on to provide a meth~d for producing 2 layer of crystall~ne silicon on a subs~rate other than single crystal silicon.
It is an additional obaect of this invention to provide a method for producing a layer of crystalline silicon which uses a surrogate crystalline substrate that simulates the cryst~l structure of silicon by achievin2 oriented cr~stal overgrowth o~
silicon on a crystalline substrate of the sodiu~ thallium (dual diamond) type.
It is a further ob~ect of the inventlon to provide a method for forming a layer of crystalline silicon integral with a conductive alloy.
Su~mary of the Invention A layer of crystalline silicon suitable for fabrication into a silicon solar cell is produced by applying atoms of silicon to the surface of a crystall~ne substrate of the sodium thallium-type and ach~eving oriented crystalline silicon ô~ergrowth thereon.
Description of the Pre~erred ~mbodiment Crystalline silicon ~orms a dlamond structure. ~ach atom lies at the center of a tetrahedron; the tetrahedral spacing from the center to any apex of the tetrahedron is 1.17A; the lattice constant is 5.4A . Nearly perfect crystals can be produced from th~ melt at a tempe.ature in excess of 1420 C.
The Czochralzki process is ~dely used to produce hi~h ~ual~ty crystalline silicon for semiconductor device ~abrication. Also, good quality crystalline silicon may be epitaxially produced on surfaces of semiconductor grade sing~e crystal silicon by vapor depositi~n, sputtering or evaporat~on technlques. Generally, only relatively i~er~ect crystallinQ silicon has ~een produced on metallurgic~l grade crystalline silicon or on non-~ilicon substrates; an exception is silicon on ~apphire discussed subsequently.
The formation mechanism for epitaxial gro~th is not completely ~nderstood. It is believed that the silicon atoms rearrange themselves in a m~nimum energy confi~uration. It is further believed that growth occurs in the direction of an uninterrupted chain of strong bonds ~etween the building blocks (a periodic bond chain). See "Structure and morphlogy" Crystal Growth; an introduction, ~. 373 (1973). Such growth is possible when a high quali~y crystalline surface ~s presented of the type o~ the applied atom. The surface, in effect, serves as a template. Crystal order and dimension are crucial while chemical compatability is of seconda~y importance. Growth is impeded when physlcal defects, called dislocations, are present at or near the surface of the crystalline substrate.
Success~ul formation of crystalline silicon is poss~ble on a subs~rate of semiconductor grade crystalline silicon -.~hen atoms of silicon are applied to the surface of the substrate with sufficient thermal energy and thus sufficient surface mobility to find a periodic bond chain position. ~ell known techniques include vapor deposition, sputtering or thermal evaporat~on. Formation of a layer Qf crystalline silicon on metallurgic~l silicon is not suL~essful due to contamination and physical defects. Formation o~ a layer of cryst~lline silicon on non-crystalline màterial generally results in imper-fect nuclea~ion. Formation of a layer of cryst~lline silicon on non-silicon crystalline substrates has been success~ul in 1~718 certain cases such as on sapphire or a-alumina (silicon on sapphire) and on spinel (A1203 MgO); however, silicon produced on such insultating substrates is not suitable for solar cell fabrication unless the insulting substrate is removed, a highly impracticable step for economic processing, since electronic contact must be made with both surfaces of the silicon.
The method of the present invention is based upon the use of a sodium thallium (dual diamond) type surrogate crystalline substrate that simulates the characteristics of crystalline silicon. The surrogate provides, in essence, a template for the overgrowth of a layer of crystalline silicon, often as a single crystal.
Sodium thallium is an alloy which forms a type of crystal structure which is a marvel of nature. It can be formed, e.g., as taught by M. Sittig, "Alloy Formation" in Sodium, Its Manufacture, Properties and Uses, ACS
Publication pp. 51-89 (1956). It forms a cubic face-centered lattice in which the constituent metal atoms, when considered alone, form a dual interleaved diamond structure (dual diamond). The sodium atoms, considered by themselves, form a diamond structure and the thallium atoms, considered by themselves, form a diamond structure; the structure in each case is that of crystalline silicon. The combined structure has the characteristic that the distance between neighboring sodium and thallium atoms is constant. As a result, the tetrahedral distances (from the center to an apex) in the individual diamor,d structures are also the same. This constancy is only possible if the atomic radius of the 1~37718 more electropositive metal, i.e., Na., is sharply reduced while that of the more electronegative metal, i.e., Tl, remains only slightly changed. This is the situation found experimentally. See W. Huckel, "Structural Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds", Vol. II, pp. 829-831.
In the art, such structures are referred to as "NaTl-type"
or sodium thallium type even though many crystals having such structures have neither sodium nor thallium as eonstituents. Based on this phenomena the tetrahedral distanees for a number of the NaTl-type alloys have been caleulated and are given in Table 1.

Table 1*

Alloy First First Second 15 Metal- Relation Metal Metal Second Tetrahedral to Silieon Eleetro- Eleetro-Metal Spacing sPacing negativity negativity LiZn 1.23A + 5.1% 1.0 1.6 LiA1 1.26A + 7.6% 1.0 1.5 LiGa 1.26A + 7.6% l.0 1.6 LiCd 1.34A + 14.5% 1.0 1.7 LiIn 1.40A + 19.0% 1.0 1.7 NaTl 1.51A + 29.0% .9 1.8 * - These values obtained by calculation based on the atomie radii of the eonstituent elements and the solid geometrieal relationships of the dual interleaved diamond structure within the face-centered eubie lattice. The values agree within 10% with (and the trend is confirmed by) aneient X-ray data reporated by E. Zintl, et al, Z.
physik, Chem. 20B, pp. 245-271, 1933.
A11 of the alloys of this type possess the dual interleaved diamond strueture and can potentially serve as surrogate substrates for the nucleation of crystalline silicon. It can be seen that the diamond lattices of the constituent atoms of the NaT1 type face-centered cubic crystals are all larger than the lattice for single crystal silicon. This permits them to serve as a template 1~7718 providing the mismatch is not too great. While matches of within about 30% in tetrahedral distances are contemplated as being useful, the preferred match is within 15%
bringing LiZn, LiAl, LiGa and LiCd within the preferred range.
The successful nucleation of crystalline silicon on a sodium thallium type substrate depends upon the match between the lattice spacing, as set out above, and upon the Pauling electronegativity of the atom in the sodium-thallium type crystal which will form the surrogatesubstrate. Silicon will have a greater affinity for sites at which an atom with a close electronegativity would have nucleated. As can be seen from Table 1, the electronegativities of the heavier (second) elements range from 1.5 to 1.8. These are close enough to silicon (1.8) to provide an affinity at those sites where these heavy atoms would have nucleated.
Crystalline alloys of the sodium thallium type are electrical conductors. They are therefore capable of serving as the backside electrical contact to a layer of silicon which is incorporated into a functioning solar cell. Thus, as contrasted to the practice of growing silicon on insulating substrates - desirable for semiconductor device fabrication - the method of the present invention establishes a practice of growing silicon on conducting substrates - a desirable practice for solar cell production. Further, the resulting silicon-sodium thallium type cell is generally integrally formed and thus exhibits reproducible and consistent electrical and physical properties.

1~7718 The method of the present invention consists of applying atoms Or silicon to a substrate of the sodium thallium type. The atoms must be applied with sufficient thermal energy to allow them to arrange themselves, generally in a single crystal form or at times as polycrystalline silicon, by oriented crystal overgrowth on the substrate. The sodium thallium alloy itself can be formed from a melt with subsequent deposition by sputtering or evaporation onto a suitable backing. If the layer of crystalline silicon is to be directly formed into a solar cell, then sheet copper or another conductive sheet metal is a suitable backing. Application of the silicon atoms can be by conventional techniques such as deposition from the gas phase, i.e., SiC14 and H2 gas epitaxy at a temperature of 1100C, vacuum deposition, sputtering or evaporation. To further assist the formation of an overgrowth of crystalline silicon, in one embodiment, the sodium thallium type substrate is provided with thermal energy as by heating it; this provides impinging atoms with additional thermal energy to assist them in locating nucleation sites. The actual conditions of application will depend upon the technique and upon the particular substrate employed. It should be noted that several of the alloys contain elements which are effective dopants, i.e., acceptors, for the silicon material so care should be taken to undertake processing under conditions which do not cause the alloy to break down and release these elements.
The description herein has been made in terms of a crystal of the NaTl type, i.s., a dual interleaved 1(~ 7718 diamond structure. It is the structure of the crystal and its dimensions rather than chemical properties that permit oriented crystalline overgrowth. Therefore, any other alloys having this crystal structure (isomorphs) other than those specifically enumerated are within the scope of this invention as defined above and in the following claims.
While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features herelnbefore set forth, and as fall within the scope of the invention and the limits of the appended claims.

Claims (18)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A method for producing a layer of crystalline silicon comprising the step of applying atoms of silicon to the surface of a sodium thallium type crystalline substrate.
2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:
providing thermal energy to said sodium thallium type crystalline substrate.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of applying atoms of silicon to said substrate is accomplished by gas epitaxy, conventional or plasma sputtering, vacuum deposition or evaporation.
4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, where-in a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said sodium thallium type crystalline substrate is within about 30%
of a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said crystalline silicon.
5. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said sodium thallium type crystalline substrate is within about 15% of a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said crystalline silicon.
6. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said sodium thallium type substrate is selected from the group consisting of LiZn, LiAl, LiGa, LiCd, LiIn and NaTl.
7. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said sodium thallium type substrate comprises LiAl.
8. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said sodium thallium type substrate comprises LiZn.
9. A method for producing solar cell quality crystalline silicon with a conductive base integral therewith, comprising:
providing a sodium thallium type crystalline alloy substrate;
gradually applying silicon atoms thereto at a rate which allows said silicon atoms to arrange them-selves for oriented crystal overgrowth on said substrate;
and recovering a product comprising solar cell quality crystalline silicon having a conductive sodium thallium type crystal alloy base integral therewith.
10. A method according to claim 9, further com-prising:
providing thermal energy to said sodium thallium type crystalline substrate to assist said silicon atoms in arranging thermselves for oriented crystal overgrowth on said substrate.
11. A method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein said sodium thallium type substrate comprises LiAl or LiZn.
12. A composition of matter comprising a con-ductive sodium thallium type crystalline alloy sub-strate having crystalline silicon integrally overgrown thereon in an oriented crystal layer.
13. A composition of matter according to claim 12, wherein a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said sodium thallium type substrate is within about 30%
of a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said crystalline silicon.
14. A composition of matter according to claim 12, wherein a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said sodium thallium type substrate is within about 15%
of a tetrahedral center-apex distance of said crystalline silicon.
15. A composition of matter according to claim 12, 13 or 14 wherein said sodium thallium crystalline alloy substrate is selected from the group consisting of LiZn, LiAl, LiGa, LiCd, LiIn and NaTl.
16. A composition of matter according to claim 12, 13 or 14 wherein said sodium thallium crystalline alloy substrate comprises LiAl.
17. A composition of matter according to claim 12, 13 or 14, wherein said sodium thallium crystalline alloy substrate comprises LiZn.
18. A composition of matter according to claim 12, 13 or 14, including:
a conductive base integral with said substrate.
CA285,826A 1976-11-01 1977-08-31 Method for producing a layer of crystalline silicon Expired CA1087718A (en)

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US737,389 1976-11-01
US05/737,389 US4042447A (en) 1976-11-01 1976-11-01 Crystallizing a layer of silicon on a sodium thallium type crystalline alloy substrate

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US3993533A (en) * 1975-04-09 1976-11-23 Carnegie-Mellon University Method for making semiconductors for solar cells
US4042447A (en) * 1976-11-01 1977-08-16 Sotec Corporation Crystallizing a layer of silicon on a sodium thallium type crystalline alloy substrate

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GB1587753A (en) 1981-04-08
JPS5516544B2 (en) 1980-05-02
FR2369685B1 (en) 1980-05-16
US4042447A (en) 1977-08-16
FR2369685A1 (en) 1978-05-26
JPS5357754A (en) 1978-05-25
DE2747753A1 (en) 1978-05-03

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