The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 30, 2015
Filed:
Nov. 05, 2007
Alleppey V. Hariharan, Austin, TX (US);
Jagannathan Ravi, Bedford, MA (US);
Alleppey V. Hariharan, Austin, TX (US);
Jagannathan Ravi, Bedford, MA (US);
Semlux Technologies, Inc., Bedford, MA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a direct method to convert fine and ultra fine silicon powder from polysilicon manufacturing sources such as fluid bed and free space reactors into densified granular forms. This conversion process is effected by the use of lasers of selective wavelengths from solid state diode or optically-pumped YAG sources to locally heat, melt and densify a controlled quantity of silicon powder, and comprises the steps of distributing dry silicon powder on an inert substrate, subjecting the silicon charge to a focused laser beam to realize melted and densified granular forms, and discharging the product. When adapted to high purity silicon powder, the end use for the densified silicon granular forms is primarily as feedstock for silicon-based semiconductor and photovoltaic manufacturing industries. The process, suitably modified, is adaptable to form other silicon body shapes and components.