Comparison between normal and reverse thin crystalline silicon solar cells

The newly developed ingot growing techniques, as the three-grain and the columnar multigrain ingot processes, are now offering the possibility of slicing thinner wafers (≤ 100 μm). In this paper we present the results obtained on p type large area (≥ 100 cm²) and 100 μm thick wafers by using both conventional and reverse cell manufacturing technologies.The conventional cells are provided with aluminium or boron BSF plus screen-printed silver mirror or a silver-aluminium net; the reverse cells have a FSF and the deep back junction completely covered by a screen-printed or CVD silver layer.The constructing parameters have been chosen on the base of one and two dimensions modeling and both raw material and devices have been completely characterized.This work shows that very thin wafers do not introduce serious problems for the conventional manufacturing of solar cells. The efficiencies of the normal and of the reverse cells are found to be comparable and are of the same order than those of thicker cells, however at a significant lower cost. The main obtained result has to be related to the demonstration of a cell manufacturing feasibility starting from very thin wafers.     

Synthesis and characterisation of a submicrometre silicon carbide powder

A beta-silicon carbide powder with a surface area of 30m²g^?l and a mean particle size of < 1μm was produced from the thermal conversion of silicon resin in an atmosphere of hydrogen. The amount of product increased with increasing iron content (0–2.1 wt%) and firing temperature (1200–1500°C). Chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and i.r. absorption spectrometry were used to follow the conversion reaction.     

德州仪器率先获得Netflix高清认证 为Android设备带来全新流媒体功能

日前,德州仪器(TI)宣布获得Netflix Silicon Reference Implementation(SRI)认证,率先成为其可通过Android实现Netflix高清应用的合作伙伴。TI OMAPTM 4平台具有M-ShieldTM安全技术,可充分满足Netflix对移动流媒体内容的     

High-pressure plastic flow in silicon: A first-principles theoretical study

Summary Microindentation experiments have recently shown that silicon can exhibit plastic flow when subjected to high pressure. Assuming that under these conditions the relevant reference structure is the -Sn high-pressure phase of silicon, we apply the magic-strain concept to explore the space of configurations that could describe the observed behavior. We use first-principles total-energy calculations (including full relaxation of the atomic basis for every structure) to evaluate the relevance of strained configurations. Using this approach, we were able to identify a low-energy path that corresponds to planar flow of the atoms. The atomic configurations along this path provide insight into possible microscopic motions under high pressure that may be relevant to plastic flow in silicon.     

PZT polarization voltage effects on off-centered PZT patch actuating silicon membrane

We have investigated the static and dynamic behavior of piezoelectric (PZT) actuated SiO₂/Si membranes with an off-centered PZT patch. Three-dimensional wide-field interferometer has been used to achieve measurement of membrane topography and bending. It is demonstrated that the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₁ can be extracted directly from these three-dimensional static deformation measurements. We have also shown that polarization voltage of an off-centered PZT patch influences in a different manner the resonant frequency shift of the first and the second vibration modes. Degenerated modes can be also discriminated thanks to the positioning of the PZT patch.     

SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF SPUTTERED SILICON. II. MODEL VERIFICATION

Experimental verification of the mathematical surface roughness model for sputtered silicon was performed. The beam shape and its significant level of intensity were determined first by measuring the topography of craters sputtered by focused ion beam (FIB). Then the beam function was generated for various combinations of beam parameters. The material function was developed both by theoretical and experimental analysis. These two functions were then used in the model to calculate the theoretical surface roughness. Microsurface analysis was formed by FIB sputtering of a (100) silicon wafer. The surface roughness at the bottom of the sputtered features was then measured using an atomic force microscope. The theoretical surface roughness was found to be within ±1 and ±5 nm of the measured surface roughness with the measurement uncertainty (standard deviation) of about ±0.36 and ±0.85 nm for R_a and R_t, respectively.     

Si3N4对镁质浇注料抗渣性能的影响

以95烧结镁砂为主要原料,以SiO2微粉为结合剂,在配料的细粉部分分别以0、3%、4%、5%的β-Si3N4细粉替代等量的镁砂细粉,搅拌均匀后浇注成氮化硅含量不同的镁质坩埚试样。选用宝钢中间包渣,采用静态坩埚法,在1550℃3h条件下对这些坩埚试样进行了抗渣试验。试验结果表明:加入Si3N4可以明显改善镁质浇注料的抗渣性能,并且随着Si3N4加入量的增加,试样的抗渣性能提高;在含氮化硅的镁质浇注料表面,由于Si3N4被氧化为SiO2而形成了致密烧结层,能阻止渣的进一步渗透;在加入Si3N4的镁质浇注料试样内部深处,由于氧分压非常低,Si3N4稳定存在;由于Si3N4在还原气氛下难以烧结,造成镁质浇注料内部结构疏松。     

Characterisation of rare earth minerals with field emission scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

Rare earth elements are becoming increasingly in demand, due to their prevalence in both renewable energy devices and high end electronics. The characterisation of the composition and morphology of the various phases that have valuable rare earth elements in the ores are needed in conjunction with the study of their physicochemical properties to optimise industrial process to extract the minerals containing the rare earth elements. Rare earth bearing minerals contain many elements with overlapping X-ray peaks (L- and M-lines) with an energy dispersive spectrometry detector, requiring a high degree of X-ray energy resolution. A program was developed to obtain the intensity of each peak by deconvolution of the X-ray spectrum. Low accelerating voltage of less than 5 kV and small beam diameter of less than 10 nm of a cold field emission scanning electron microscope allow x-ray microanalysis on the nanometre scale. A 100 nm wide phase was observed at 4 kV on a backscattered electron micrograph. Furthermore, a small beam diameter of less than 10 nm was used for identification of small phases of a few micrometres.

Les éléments de terre rare sont de plus en plus en demande, grâce à leur prévalence tant dans les dispositifs d’énergie renouvelable que dans l’électronique de haute gamme. On a besoin de caractériser la composition et la morphologie des différentes phases qui contiennent des terres rares de valeur dans les minerais, en combinaison avec l’étude de leurs propriétés physico-chimiques, afin d’optimiser le procédé industriel d’extraction des minéraux contenant les terres rares. Les minéraux porteurs de terre rare contiennent plusieurs éléments ayant des pics de rayons x qui se chevauchent (lignes L et M) avec un détecteur de spectroscopie à dispersion d’énergie, nécessitant une haute résolution énergétique. On a développé un programme visant à obtenir l’intensité de chaque pic par déconvolution du spectre de rayons x. Un faible voltage d’accélération de moins que 5 kV et un faisceau à faible diamètre de moins que 10 nm d’un microscope électronique à balayage par cathode froide permettent la microanalyse des rayons x à l’échelle du nanomètre. On a observé une phase de 100 nm de largeur à 4 kV sur une micrographe d’électrons rétrodiffusés. De plus, on a utilisé un faisceau de faible diamètre de moins que 10 nm pour l’identification de petites phases de quelques μm.     

Development of an anti-Compton veto for HPGe detectors operated in liquid argon using silicon photo-multipliers

A proof of concept detector is presented for scintillation light detection in liquid argon using silicon photo-multipliers. The aim of the work is to build an anti-Compton veto for germanium detectors operated directly in liquid argon as in the GERDA experiment. Wavelength shifting fibers are used to collect the scintillation light and to guide it to Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPC). Sufficient light yield was achieved to realize an effective anti-Compton veto. Properties of the MPPC were studied at cryogenic temperatures and are additionally reported.     

Study of silicon photomultipliers fast amplifier and thermoregulation

The silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are adopted in various physical applications, from medical physics to astrophysics, for their advantages in terms of cost and weight with respect to traditional photo detectors. Their low bias voltage supply (about 30 V), hardiness and resistance to magnetic field are ideal characteristics for space application. In the frame of INFN-Irst collaboration, some of them have been developed and produced at FBK (Trento-Italy), and have been characterized in the INFN laboratories of Bologna (DaSiPM2 collaboration).The SiPM can be used in conjunction with fibres and counters in high energy physics experiments. To exploit the SiPM time resolution, a fast amplifier has been studied. The SiPM gain depends critically on temperature and a thermal stabilization is also necessary. The use of a thermoelectric cooler module based on a Peltier cell has been investigated, and the results are shown.