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Silicon Genesis’ “kerf-free” wafering technology reduces amount of polysilicon for PV apps

Using in-house technology and expertise, Silicon Genesis' PolyMax equipment is meant to eliminate sawing losses to significantly reduce the amount of polysilicon used within the ingot to wafer manufacturing steps and eliminate some of the costly consumables in wafer manufacturing.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- EDN, 7/11/2008

To substantially reduce the amount of polysilicon used within the ingot-to-wafer manufacturing steps and eliminate some of the costly consumables in today’s wafer manufacturing, San Jose-based semiconductor, display, optoelectronics, and solar engineered substrate process technology provider Silicon Genesis Corp (SiGen) reported today that it has produced solar substrates for photovoltaic (PV) applications using its “kerf-free” wafering process technology called PolyMax.

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Using in-house technology and expertise, SiGen’s PolyMax equipment is meant to eliminate sawing losses to significantly reduce the amount of polysilicon used within the ingot to wafer manufacturing steps and eliminate some of the costly consumables in today’s wafer manufacturing.

The equipment is expected to help the PV industry reach grid parity while simultaneously relaxing the shortage of polysilicon feedstock and is first targeted to process monocrystalline silicon to produce high-efficiency silicon solar cells, SiGen explained.

The company said it has produced 50-micron thick, full-size 125-mm wafer samples using engineering equipment with excellent mechanical and electrical characteristics, and plans to start pilot line operations by spring 2009 that demonstrate kerf-free processing of silicon ingots into wafers ranging from 150- to 50-micron in thickness.

SiGen’s technology is also used for production of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor wafers for high performance applications.

“Our full-sized PV samples have enhanced silicon attributes which dramatically improve wafer and cell processing capabilities. In addition to saving poly, we found the wafers to be significantly more resistant to breakage, thereby enabling higher cell yields and lowering expensive downstream failures seen by module manufacturers and installers,” added Francois Henley, president and CEO of Silicon Genesis, in a statement.

A 125mm x 125mm PolyMax 50-micron solar wafer from Silicon Genesis
(Source: Business Wire)