Abstract

We investigated impact of type of crystal defects in multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) on electrical properties and their change after gettering process of impurities. A bundle of dislocations gives negative impact on the gettering process, while Σ3Σ3 grain boundaries does not affect at all. In addition, we categorized random grain boundaries in mc-Si by the contact angle between adjacent dendrite crystals to form the grain boundary. Change in the contrast of photoluminescence intensity around the grain boundary was found to systematically vary by the contact angle, which showed good correlation with calculated interface energy of the grain boundary. Grain boundaries with low interface energy are concluded to be preferable to weaken recombination activity by the gettering process and improvement of solar cell performance based on mc-Si.