• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2011

In order to develop economical production process from metallurgical grade silicon(MG-Si) to solar grade(SOG-Si), removal of boron by slag treatment was investigated at 1823 K using CaO-$SiO_2$ based slags. In the present study boron removal ratio in CaO-$SiO_2$ stags and $CaCO_3-SiO_2$ slags were increased to 63% and 73% respectively with slag basicity (%CaO/$%SiO_2$). However, bubbling time with Ar gas of slag and metal was not affected on removal ratio of boron. The addition of $Na_2CO_3$ to CaO-$SiO_2$ slags did not improve the removal ratio of boron from molten silicon. Boron contend was decreased from 20.6 ppm to 1.03 ppm by three times treatment using $CaCO_3-SiO_2$ slag (basicity=1.2).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.637-641
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• 2012

Due to its high production cost and relatively high energy consumption during the Siemens process, poly-silicon makers have been continuously and eagerly sought another silicon route for decades. One candidate that consumes less energy and has a simpler acidic and metallurgical purification procedure is upgraded metallurgical-grade (UMG) silicon. Owing to its low purity, UMG silicon often requires special steps to minimize the impurity effects and to remove or segregate the metal atoms in the bulk and to remove interfacial defects such as precipitates and grain boundaries. A process often called the 'gettering process' is used with phosphorus diffusion in this experiment in an effort to improve the performance of silicon solar cells using UMG silicon. The phosphorous gettering processes were optimized and compared to the standard POCl process so as to increase the minority carrier lifetime(MCLT) with the duration time and temperature as variables. In order to analyze the metal impurity concentration and distribution, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was utilized before and after the phosphorous gettering process.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2022

Silicon is the most abundant metal element in the Earth's crust. Metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si) is an important metal that has wide industrial applications, such as a deoxidizer in the steelmaking industry, alloying elements in the aluminum industry, the preparation of organosilanes, and the production of electronic-grade silicon, which is used in the electronics industry as well as solar cells. MG-Si is produced industrially by the reduction smelting of silicon dioxide with carbon in the form of coal, coke, or wood chips in electric arc furnaces. MG-Si is purified by chemical treatments, such as the Siemens process. Most single-crystal silicon is produced using the Czochralski method. These smelting and refining methods will be helpful for the development of new recycling processes using secondary silicon resources.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 1993

Polycrystalline silicon was produced from metallurgical-grade Si by unidirectional solidification. Variations of impurity concentration and resistivity in the ingots have been investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis has also been performed to examine the crystal orientation. According to the X-ray diffraction analysis on the polycrystalline silicon, preferential orientation was changed from ( 220) into ( III ) with decreasing growth rate. Also, with increasing growth rate and fraction solidified, the resistivity tends to decrease.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.34-39
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• 2011

Metallurgical grade silicon(MG-Si) was melted with Ca at 1500$^{\circ}C$ under Ar atmosphere. The sample was cooled at 10 $^{\circ}C$/min to room temperature and leached in aqua regia. In the present study, the effect of Ca addition and conditions of acid leaching on removal of Fe and P in MG-Si were investigated. CaSi$_2$ phase was formed at the grain boundary of MG-Si melting with Ca. Also FeSi$_2$ phase was precipitated in CaSi$_2$ phase. By the formation of CaSi$_2$ phase, 97% of Fe and 66 % of P were removed from Ca added MG-Si with the particle size of 600~850${\mu}m$ by aqua regia(more than 30%) leaching.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.54.2-54.2
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• 2011

야금학적 정련 공정 중 슬래그 처리, 일방향 응고, 플라즈마-전자기유도용해 공정을 적용한 태양전지용 실리콘 제조 기술에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 원소재인 금속급 실리콘을 제조하기 위해원재료로 규석, 코크스(Cokes), 숯, 그리고 우드칩(Wood chip)을 사용하였으며, 150kW급 DC 아크로(Arc furnace)를 이용하여 순도 99.8% 금속급 실리콘을 제조하였다. 제조된 용융 상태의 금속급 실리콘은 슬래그와 반응시켜 불순물을 제거하였다. SiO2-CaO-CaF2 계의 슬래그를 이용하였으며, 금속급 실리콘과 슬래그의 질량비 및 반응 시간에 따른 실리콘 불순물 특성을 평가하였다. 이후 고액 계면이 제어 가능한 일방향 응고 장치를 이용하여 금속불순물을 제거하였다. 고액상태의 온도 조건 및 응고 시간에 따른 불순물 농도 변화를 평가하였으며, 순도 6N급의 실리콘을 제조하였다. 마지막 공정으로 스팀 플라즈마 토치와 냉도가니가 적용된 전자기 유도 용해장치를 이용하여 붕소와 인을 제거하였다. 플라즈마 토치 가스로는 아르곤, 스팀, 수소를 이용하였다. 붕소와 인의 제거율은 각각 94%와 96%를 달성하였으며, 최종 순도 6N급의 실리콘을 제조하였다.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2011

Impurity removal from metallurgical grade silicon by acid washing at $50^{\circ}C$ was investigated by employing sulfuric, nitric acid and the mixture of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid. Acid washing treatment had no effect on the removal of boron and the concentration of this clement after treatment was rather increased. In our experimental range, the removal percentage of phosphorus was 60%. In the acid washing with sulfuric and nitric acid, the removal percentage of major impurities was below 50%, which indicates that refining effect was not great with these acids. Acid washing with the mixture of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid led to removal percentage of higher than 90%. Data on the purity of silicon after acid washing at various conditions are reported.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.303-313
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• 1991

The Purification mechanism of high purity aluminum was studied through the variation of stirring speed and coolant flow rate in the stirring method. In the stirring method the degree of purification was changed as the following factors;the variation of diffusion boundary layer thickness the variation of growth rate and the solute concentration of the residual melt. The concentration of Fe and Si was decreased as the stirring speed and the radial distance increased. In a high stirring speed of 2000rpm with unidirectional stirring mode, the uniformity of solutes was obtained. On the other hand, the purification of Si was done by the combinations of stirring method, fractional melting and acid leaching. In the case of Si purification, the centrifugal force developed in the melt acted as the significant purification factor. It was possible to obtain the purified 3N grade Si crystal after the complete elimination of residual aluminum by fractional melting and acid leaching.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.232-236
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• 2008

Recently the shortage of silicon resources especially for poly-silicon of purity higher than 99.9999% leads to search for the more cheap and quick synthesizing routes for silicon feedstock. In order to solve this situation, we investigated the purification process of metallurgical grade (MG) silicon of purity around 99% by the acid leaching and following the unidirectional solidification. MG-Si lumps are pulverized with a planetary mill, and then leached with HCl/$HNO_3$/HF acid solution. As a result, the concentration of metal impurities including Al, Fe, Ca, Mn, etc. decreased dramatically. This process led to silicon content higher than 99.99%. The purified silicon powders were compacted and have been melted and uni-directionally solidified with heat exchange method (HEM) furnace. The properties of multicrystalline silicon ingots were specific resistance of $0.3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ and minority carrier life time (MCLT) of $3.8{\mu}{\cdot}sec$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.223-223
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• 2010

태양 전지에 사용되는 실리콘의 전자기 유도 용융 기술은 잉곳(ingot)의 성장 및 금속 정련 등의 핵심 공정인 실리콘 용융에서 사용되는 중요한 기술이다. 하지만, 유도 용융에 사용되는 흑연 도가니에 의한 실리콘의 오염은 실리콘의 순도저하에 요인으로 작용한다. 흑연 도가니와 용융된 실리콘이 접하는 계면에서 탄소의 오염이 발생하게 되며, 실리콘 내부에 흡수한 탄소는 대표적인 비금속 불순물로 태양전지 효율을 감소시킨다. 본 연구에서 사용되는 흑연 도가니는 유도 코일의 전자기력에 의해 실리콘과 무접촉 또는 연접촉이 가능한 구조이다. 또한, 유도 자기장을 이용하여 실리콘과 같은 반도체를 용융할 경우, 고상에서의 낮은 전기전도도로 인해 효과적인 줄-발열(Joule Heating)이 불가능하므로 플라즈마와 같은 보조 열원을 필요로 한다. 본 연구에서는, 보조 열원 없이 세그먼트(segment)된 흑연 도가니를 이용한 실리콘 용융 연구를 진행하였다.