Slag refining of silicon and silicon alloys: a review

ABSTRACT

Silicon is considered as the most appropriate semiconductor material for manufacturing solar cells because of its abundance in the earth’s crust and its nontoxicity. One of the main concerns of the silicon industry in the past few years has been developing an environmentally and economically viable process dedicated to production of solar grade silicon. One of the promising techniques for purification of silicon is slag refining which is based on oxidation of the impurities, followed by their dissolution into a slag phase. This article reviews various slag refining processes employed for purification of silicon and silicon alloys.

KEYWORDS:

• Impurity distribution
• silicon purification
• slag treatment
• solar-grade silicon

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.