A model based upon known theories of twinning in semiconductor crystal growth, was proposed for the study of twins formed during the solidification of multicrystalline silicon ingots. It was expected that twins would appear on facets at the grain boundary solid/liquid triple-line. It was shown that twinning was a function of the probability of the nucleation of twinned nuclei. It was demonstrated that this probability was in qualitative agreement with experimental observation for cases where the grain orientation was such that an angle of 132° occurred between a facet and a grain boundary. Full validation of the model required accurate values of the interfacial energies at the melting point, which were currently lacking.

On the Twinning Occurrence in Bulk Semiconductor Crystal Growth. T.Duffar, A.Nadri: Scripta Materialia, 2010, 62[12], 955-60