The Floating Silicon Method (FSM) has been established as a viable, stable method for growing single crystal ribbons directly from a silicon melt. With intense helium jet cooling to drive the linear progress of a [111] facet, pulled in the 110 direction, ribbons in the 0.6 - 3.0 mm thickness range can be grown at linear growth rates from 0.3 mm/s to > 6 mm/s as reported in the literature. We report on recent progress towards growing (100) oriented ribbons with a net thickness of < 200 mu m and a ribbon width up to 18 cm using a stable, continuous process in the Leading Edge prototype furnace. The 3D details of the single crystal growth are explained using the mechanics of the Limit Cycle Theory, with novel Internal Side Effect morphology described by a proposed Facet Flow Theory. Grown-in crystalline defect distributions are described as well as values of critical impurities like oxygen, carbon, dopants, and metals that are relevant for use as wafers for solar cells.

Experimental and numerical results are presented on the process of horizontal ribbon growth (HRG) of single-crystal silicon. Experimental data on the leading edge position of the growth front as a function of pull speed is compared to model predictions with and without solidification kinetic effects. Without kinetics, the numerical results predict leading edge positions which are completely different than that observed in the experiment. With kinetics, the leading edge position is predicted typically within 1mm and the change in position with pull speed also is well predicted. Conclusions from the kinetic model are that the growth occurs through a faceted process where the leading edge is a {111} facet that requires significant supercooling to maintain the growth. An outcome of the model is that the leading edge position versus pull speed response shows a turning point beyond which there are no steady growth solutions. This is consistent with all previously reported experiments on this process, which have reported maximum attainable pull-speeds. These results directly contradict previous conclusions from the “wedge” model of horizontal ribbon growth, which predicts that a large area wedge-shaped growth region exists and that increasing pull speeds simply result in a narrower wedge angle.

In the Floating Silicon Method (FSM), a single-crystal Si ribbon is grown while floating on the surface of a Si melt. In this paper, we describe the phenomenology of FSM, including the observation of approximately regularly spaced “facet lines” on the ribbon surface whose orientation aligns with (111) crystal planes. Sb demarcation experiments sectioned through the thickness of the ribbon reveal that the solid/melt interface consists of dual (111) planes and that the leading edge facet growth is saccadic in nature, rather than steady-state.To explain this behavior, we propose a heuristic solidification limit cycle theory, using a continuum level of description with anisotropic kinetics as developed by others, and generalizing the interface kinetics to include a roughening transition as well as a re-faceting mechanism that involves curvature and the Gibbs–Thomson effect.