CHARACTERIZATION OF MULTICRYSTALLINE SILICON WAFERS FOR SOLAR CELL APPLICATIONS SLICED WITH A FIXED ABRASIVE WIRE

摘要

A new slicing method using a newly developed fixed-abrasive wire saw was examined as a replacement for the conventional method of slicing silicon ingots using loose-abrasive The fixed-abrasive wire has abrasive diamond grains fixed onto the surface of a wire core using resin. When an ingot was sliced using this wire saw at a speed 2.5-fold higher than that of the loose-abrasive method, we obtained better results: the thickness variation decreased by a factor of three, the occurrence of wire breakage was reduced, and sub-surface layer decreased by a factor of at least two. Therefore, it was demonstrated that the fixed-abrasive wire saw is effective for slicing silicon ingots.