Graduation Year
2005
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Electrical Engineering
Major Professor
Rudy Schlaf
Co-Major Professor
Sergei Ostapenko
Keywords
Photovoltaics, Silicon wafers, Stress, Cracks, Transducers
Abstract
Non-destructive monitoring of residual elastic stress in silicon wafers is a matter of strong concern for modern photovoltaic industry. The excess stress can generate cracks within the crystalline structure, which further may lead to wafer breakage. Cracks diagnostics and reduction in multicrystalline silicon, for example, are ones of the most important issues in photovoltaics now. The industry is intent to improve the yield of solar cells fabrication. There is a number of techniques to measure residual stress in semiconductor materials today. They include Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and infrared polariscopy. None of these methods are applicable for in-line diagnostics of residual elastic stress in silicon wafers for solar cells. Moreover, the method has to be fast enough to fit in solar cell sequential production line.
Scholar Commons Citation
Byelyayev, Anton, "Stress diagnostics and crack detection in full-size silicon wafers using resonance ultrasonic vibrations" (2005). Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2969