Production of semiconductor body, e.g. for photovoltaic cell, by directionally recrystallizing portion of source melt to form intermediate crystal, disposing of residue portion, melting portion of intermediate crystal, and crystallizing

摘要

A semiconductor body is produced by providing a source material (5) comprising a semiconductor material; melting the source material forming a source melt (10), directionally recrystallizing a portion of the source melt to form an intermediate crystal (7) and a residue portion, disposing of the residue portion, melting a portion of the intermediate crystal in a container to form a pool comprising a portion of the melted intermediate crystal, and crystallizing part of the pool. The source material comprises scrap material comprising mainly silicon. An independent claim is included for a method of producing a semiconductor device.