Name - Jagroop Singh

Student ID- 40014689

Subject - Engineering Metrology And Measurement Systems (MECH 6491)

Instructor Name - Narayanswamy R Sivakumar
Texture Process Monitoring In Solar Cell Manufacturing Using Optical Metrology
The journal gives the description about a new optical metrology technique which is invented to
analysis the textured silicon wafers used to made solar cells. A non alcoholic chemical etching
formulation along with single step texturization process was governed to these wafers and the
results were correlated with SEM imaging. The Crystalline Silicon based solar cells have the
specific property to lessen the reflection losses through many internal reflections occurred on
their textured surface. The specific dimension of pyramid is 3-8 micrometer for ongoing
production lines. The various problems to measure the surface topography with contact based
profiler is due its ruff nature and for non-contact based profiler technique is due its tremendously
spongy nature. The texture process and wafer thickness are the significant factors to develop
because the cost of silicon cell is approximate half of the solar cell production process. To raise
the signal from surfaces having reflectivity well below 1%, an optical design was progressed
which allowed the examination of Si3N4 laminated and uncovered wafers of various sizes of
pyramids.
The data of pyramid heights conferred in this experiment was achieved the Zeta-20 3D imaging
and metrology microscope which develop 3D pictures of surfaces. A novel optical design is used
by Zeta microscope which makes the height settlement which is lesser than the depth of focus.
For calculating surface roughness, pyramid base dimension and pyramid heights automatically a
software indentifying pyramids on silicon and nitrite coated and bare wafers was introduced.
Perkin Elmer Spectrometry was used for reflectivity measurements. The relationship between
pyramid height and size measurements was made by measuring surface reflectivity and minority
carriers lifetime for particular wafers group a chosen group of wafers was terminated through
process having different situation after that some wafers were remain untouched and other were
laminated with silicon nitrate. The pyramid size is enlarged with exposure time when wafers
were pass through changing eth bath life, etching time an additives. The size of pyramids is
advantageous at 20 minutes exposure time due to minimal reflectivity on surface. The solar cell
gives its best performance when surface ratio is ideal in 15-20 minutes etching time.
To end up, the optical metrology inspection method is discovered to monitor pyramid dimensions
and there is first increment in the pyramid height and then decline as the wafer is etched and over
etching reduce the surface area ration parameter. The optical micrometer did not describe about
the effect of the coating of the silicon nitride on the wafer.
REFERENCES

1. K. Wijekoon et al.,Production Ready Novel Texture Etching Process for Fabrication of

Single Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, 35th IEEE PVSC, 2010, pp 3635 -3641
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3. B. L. Sopori, Sol. Cells, 25, 15, 1988
4. J. D. Hilton et al., Progress in Photovoltaic Research
and Applications, 4, 435, 1996