Purpose

The purpose of this study is to address the issue of technology equipment formerly dedicated to the process of 4- and even 5-inch photovoltaic cells and whose use has become critical with the evolution of silicon wafer size standards (M2–M10). Fortunately, the recent concept of 6'' half-cut cell with its many advantages appears promising insofar as it offers the possibility of further extend the use of costly, still operational process equipment, but doomed to obsolescence.

Design/methodology/approach

In the background of a detailed Al-BSF process, the authors show how to experimentally adapt specific accessories and arrange 6” half-wafers to enable the upgrade of a complete industrial process of silicon solar cells at a lower cost. Step by step, the implementation of the processes for the two wafer sizes (4” wafers and 6” half wafers) is compared and analyzed in terms of performance and throughput.

Findings

Globally, the same process effectiveness is observed for both types of wafers with slightly better sheet resistance uniformity for the thermal diffusion carried out on the half wafers; however, the horizontal arrangement of the wafer carriers in the diffusion and the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition tubes limits the thermal balance regarding the total number of cells processed per batch.

Originality/value

In terms of the development of prototypes on a preindustrial scale, this paves the way to further continue operating outdated equipment for high-performance processes (passivated emitter and rear contact, Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon)), while complying with current standards for silicon wafers up to M10 format.

中文翻译：

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在专用于 4 英寸太阳能技术的工业规模设备上调整 M2 硅半晶片加工

目的

本研究的目的是解决以前专用于 4 英寸甚至 5 英寸光伏电池工艺的技术设备问题，随着硅片尺寸标准 (M2-M10) 的发展，这些设备的使用变得至关重要。幸运的是，最近的 6'' 半切槽具有许多优点的概念似乎很有前景，因为它提供了进一步扩展使用昂贵但仍在运行但注定要过时的工艺设备的可能性。

设计/方法/方法

在详细的 Al-BSF 工艺背景下，作者展示了如何通过实验调整特定配件并排列 6 英寸半晶圆，从而以更低的成本升级硅太阳能电池的完整工业工艺。逐步比较和分析两种晶圆尺寸（4 英寸晶圆和 6 英寸半晶圆）的工艺实施在性能和吞吐量方面。

发现

在全球范围内，对于在半晶片上进行的热扩散，两种类型的晶片都观察到了相同的工艺效率，具有稍好的薄层电阻均匀性；然而，扩散管和等离子体增强化学气相沉积管中晶片载体的水平排列限制了每批次处理的电池总数的热平衡。

原创性/价值

在工业化前规模的原型开发方面，这为进一步继续使用用于高性能工艺（钝化发射极和背面接触、隧道氧化物钝化接触 (TOPCon)）的过时设备铺平了道路，同时符合当前的硅标准M10 格式的晶圆。