Modeling and simulation of Si crystal growth from melt

A numerical simulator was developed with a global model of heat transfer for any crystal growth taking place at high temperature. Convective, conductive and radiative heat transfers in the furnace are solved together in a conjugated way by a finite volume method. A three-dimensional (3D) global model was especially developed for simulation of heat transfer in any crystal growth with 3D features. The model enables 3D global simulation be conducted with moderate requirement of computer resources. The application of this numerical simulator to a CZ growth and a directional solidification process for Si crystals, the two major production methods for crystalline Si for solar cells, was introduced. Some typical results were presented, showing the importance and effectiveness of numerical simulation in analyzing and improving these kinds of Si crystal growth processes from melt. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim