Journal
PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS
Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 217-225Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/pip.1126
Keywords
quartz; feedstock; silicon refining; impurities; synchrotron-based microprobe; X-ray fluorescence; XANES; metals
Funding
- US Department of Energy [DE-FG36-09GO19001]
- Doug Spreng
- Chesonis Family Foundation
- BASIC, Norwegian Research Council [191285/V30]
- Claire Boothe Luce Foundation
- Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the US Department of Energy [E-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-06CH11357]
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Using synchrotron-based analytical microprobe techniques, we determine micrometer-scale elemental composition, spatial distribution, and oxidation state of impurities in raw feedstock materials used in the photovoltaic industry. Investigated Si-bearing compounds are pegmatitic quartz, hydrothermal quartz, and quartzite. Micrometer-scale clusters containing Fe, Ti, and/or Ca are frequently observed at structural defects in oxidized states and in bulk concentrations equivalent to inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy measurements. Investigated C-bearing compounds are pine wood, pine charcoal, and eucalyptus charcoal. Clustered metals are observed only in the charcoal samples. Impurity clustering implies that industrial processing could be adapted to take advantage of this natural gettering phenomenon, expanding the usable range of raw feedstock materials to dirtier, cheaper, and more abundant ones, currently underexploited for solar-grade silicon production. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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