The influence of extended defects upon the spatial distribution of copper- and nickel-related silicide precipitates was considered for a model system containing a low-angle grain boundary and in one part silicon oxide precipitates partly associated with punched-out dislocations. Phosphorus-diffusion gettering under conditions of mostly precipitated metal impurities was discussed in terms of quantitative simulations. It was shown that two regimes could be distinguished where gettering kinetics were either limited by precipitate dissolution or phosphorus in-diffusion. Finally, binding of metal impurities to dislocations was considered and its effect on gettering kinetics was illustrated in terms of gettering simulations.

Interaction of Metal Impurities with Extended Defects in Crystalline Silicon and its Implications for Gettering Techniques used in Photovoltaics. M.Seibt, D.Abdelbarey, V.Kveder, C.Rudolf, P.Saring, L.Stolze, O.Voss: Materials Science and Engineering B, 2009, 159-160, 264-8