Silicon ingot casting: heat exchanger method (HEM). Multi-wire slicing: fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST). Phase IV. Silicon sheet growth development for the large area sheet task of the low-cost solar array project. Quarterly progress report No. 3, July 1, 1980-September 30, 1980

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6920316· OSTI ID:6920316

Schmid, F; Khattak, C P; Basaran, M

The size of ingots cast by HEM has been increased to 45 kg with 34 cm x 34 cm and 32 cm x 32 cm cross-sections. A new crucible has been developed which has a better shape factor. It has shown considerable improvement in yields of square ingots. A 45 kg ingot was solidified in this crucible. Optimization of the solidification cycle has shown that as the height of the ingot is increased, the gradients at the bottom, as well as instrumentation control, have to be very precise for efficient solidification. A new cutting head has been fabricated and assembled with the present drive unit of the FAST slicer. In addition to the salient features of rigidity and accurate alignment, the bladehead is lighter and larger to accommodate a 30 cm wide wirepack. Surface speeds of 500 ft/min were achieved with minimum vibration. Encouraging results have been achieved with the new cutting heat cutting head. High cutting rates and yields, 5.1 mils/min and 96%, respectively, have been seen from electroplated bladepacks. Electroplated wires with diamonds in cutting edge only have been used during the present reporting period with good slicing performance. The impregnated wirepacks have also demonstrated cutting effectiveness with the new bladehead.

• Research Organization: Crystal Systems, Inc., Salem, MA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: NAS-7-100-954373
• OSTI ID: 6920316
• Report Number(s): DOE/JPL/954373-80/17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
ABRASIVES
ALIGNMENT
CARBON
CASTING
CRUCIBLES
CRYSTAL GROWTH
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
CRYSTALS
CUTTING
DIAMONDS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
HEAT EXCHANGER METHOD
MACHINING
MINERALS
MONOCRYSTALS
NONMETALS
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
WIRES