Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Helmut Foell

Volker Lehmann

Josef Grabmaier

Richard Falckenberg

Bernhard Freienstein

Karl Geim

Otmar Hintringer

Juergen Schneider

A semiconductor crystal wafer is fixed between two electrolyte-filled cells so that the front surface and rear surface thereof are respectively in contact with an electrolyte. A respective electrode is located in the electrolyte, a DC voltage being applied between these electrodes so that the semiconductor-to-electrolyte contact of the one cell is polarized in the conducting direction and the other is polarized in the non-conducting direction. A current flow through the semiconductor crystal body is enabled in that the inhibiting surface of the semiconductor crystal is illuminated and charge carriers are generated as a result thereof. On the basis of the selection of suitable electrolytes and the intensity of illumination, high current density is possible even given high-impedance semiconductor crystal wafers as well as semiconductor crystal bodies having doping steps or pn junctions. The method is particularly simple in many semiconductor processing and analyses methods.

Method and apparatus for large-area electrical contacting of a

For a two-stage measuring method, a respective cell having an electrode therein is applied to the front surface and to the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer, whereby only the cell as the rear surface is filled with an electrolyte in the first measuring step. The minority carrier photo current I.sub.2 ' flowing between the electrode and the semiconductor surface in the rear cell, given illumination of the front cell of the semiconductor crystal wafer, is dependent on the recombination speed S at the front surface. In the second measuring step, the front cell is also filled with electrolyte and both the rear surface photo current I.sub.2, given what is now a negligible influence of the value S as well as the front surface photo current I.sub.1 are measured. The recombination speed S can be calculated from the measure photo currents with the assistance of a mathematical equation. Given point-by-point illumination and scanning over the crystal wafer, the topical distribution of the recombination speed is obtained.

Method for determining the recombination rate of minority carriers at

The black radiator contains a doped, crystalline silicon member having a honeycombed surface and contains a controllable electrical heating mechanism with which the silicon member can be heated. The heating mechanism has a heating coil that is a doped silicon structure that is oppositely doped to the doping of the silicon member and to which a controllable voltage is applied. The manufacturing method provides that the silicon member having a honeycombed surface be manufactured from an n-silicon member by electrolytic etching.

Black radiator for use as an emitter in calibratable gas sensors

The measurement of the diffusion length of minority charge carriers in a semiconductor crystal body is enabled in that the front side and the rear side of the crystal wafer are each respectively brought into contact with an electrolyte in a respective measuring cell and an inhibiting space charge zone is generated at the front side of the wafer. The front side is irradiated with light having a wave length of .lambda.&gt;800 nm and the front side photocurrent I.sub.1 of the minority charge carriers thereby generated is measured. The diffusion length L can be calculated from the photocurrent I.sub.1 with the assistance of a mathematical equation. The topical distribution of the diffusion length L is obtained given point-by-point irradiation and scanning over the crystal wafer. Diffusion lengths of L&lt;150 .mu.m can be measured by selecting a light source having a wave length of .lambda.&gt;800 nm.

Method for topically-resolved determination of the diffusion length of

The present invention provides the production of apertured openings or trenches in layers or substrates composed of n-doped silicon proceeding in an electrolytic way, whereby the silicon is connected as a positively polarized electrode of an electrolysis cell containing an agent that contains hydrofluoric acid. Hole structures having highly variable cross-section can be reproducibly manufactured with the method of the invention and holes can be localized by prescribing nuclei. The invention can be used in the manufacture of trench cells in memory modules, insulating trenches in LSI semiconductor circuits, large-area capacitors (varicaps), and in contacting more deeply disposed layers in disconnectable and voltage-controlled thyristors.

Etching method for generating apertured openings or trenches in layers

Method and measuring instrument for identifying the diffusion length of minority charge carriers for non-destructive detection of flaws and impurities in semiconductor crystal bodies. The method provides that the semiconductor crystal body is positioned between two electrolyte-filled measuring chamber halves and that the minority charge carriers of the photocurrent that results at a front side of the semiconductor crystal body due to irradiation is detected by an applied constant voltage between a backside of the semiconductor crystal body and a rear electrolyte at the backside of the semiconductor crystal body. Taking the thickness (D) of the semiconductor crystal body into consideration, the diffusion length (L) can be calculated from a mathematical equation using the quotient of the minority charge carrier current I.sub.G I/.sub.O occurring at the backside and at the front side of the semiconductor crystal body. The method provides topically resolved measurements for irradiation of the semiconductor crystal body. A measuring instrument for the implementation of the method is disclosed. The method can be used for determining the quality of semiconductor crystals.

Method and measuring instrument for identifying the diffusion length of

In an exemplary embodiment, tape-shaped silicon bodies for solar cells are formed by continuous coating of a carrier body having a mesh structure. A melt bath receives the silicon melt and has a floor part with capillary openings therein for supplying the melt, the capillary openings leading perpendicularly toward the exterior of the vat and proceeding parallel to one another, and wherein a channel for the guidance of the carrier body proceeding in a horizontal direction is disposed below the melt vat in the region of the capillary openings. The guide channel for the carrier body can also be disposed above a body with capillaries proceeding parallel in a vertical direction, the body being partially immersed in the vat containing the silicon melt for the purpose of supplying the melt via the capillaries. The devices enable continuous tape drawing from a silicon melt wherein convection currents are avoided in the melt.

Device for manufacturing large-surface, tape-shaped silicon bodies for

This invention involves a method and apparatus for drawing crystalline bodies from a melt by means of an open-ended drawing nozzle which determines the cross-sectional geometry of the crystalline body. The drawing nozzle is composed of a material which is resistant to the melt. The feed of melt proceeds from a reservoir situated at the lower end of the drawing nozzle and the melt is conveyed to the upper opening thereof by capillary action. In keeping with the present invention, there is provided a drawing nozzle which has an upper opening merging into a contoured surface such that the meniscus formed at the interface between the crystalline and molten phases is freely displaceable on the contoured surface into which the upper opening discharges.

Method and apparatus for drawing crystalline bodies from a melt

Apparatus and method for asymmetrically coating a tape-shaped carrier body with crystallized silicon for further processing into solar cells. In an exemplary embodiment a carrier body in the form of a graphite mesh is to be drawn through a guide channel leading from the floor of a melt vat and is moistened by the melt. The silicon is caused to crystallize above the melt vat because of a temperature gradient generated at right angles relative to the path of the coated carrier body. The temperature gradient can, for example, be produced by means of single-sided heating, or by a plate-shaped body extending from the melt parallel to the carrier body, or by guide lips with upper boundaries exhibiting different heights and widths. The method and apparatus serve for the continuous manufacture of silicon tapes for solar cells.

Device for asymmetrically coating a tape-shaped carrier body with

A method and apparatus for manufacturing tape-shaped silicon bodies for solar cells wherein a tape-shaped reticulate carrier is passed vertically downwardly through a drawing nozzle including a slot which is full of molten silicon. The drawing nozzle is located above the level of molten silicon in a vat containing such molten silicon, and capillary means are provided to deliver the molten silicon from the vat into the drawing nozzle to fill the same with the molten silicon.

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Munich, Germany

Helmut Foell