Lifetime improvement of photovoltaic silicon crystals grown by Czochralski technique using “liquinert” quartz crucibles

• Quartz crucibles with melt-phobic property were developed.
• CZ Si grown with the crucible has lower impurity content than standard CZ Si.
• The impact of the crucible on carbon reduction is discussed in detail.
• CZ Si grown with the crucible has longer lifetime than standard CZ Si.

We succeeded in growing CZ monocrystalline silicon crystals with a longer lifetime than previously achieved. The MCZ technique was not used; instead, we employed melt-phobic quartz crucibles in a conventional CZ furnace. The improved lifetime is the result of reduced carbon incorporation into the growing crystals due to the suppression of SiO evaporation from the melt in the melt-phobic crucible. The melt-phobic effect of our crucibles has the potential to control the convection of molten silicon.