An investigation was made of the generation mechanism of dislocations by comparing dislocation occurrence in multicrystalline silicon with calculated results of the shear stress on the slip plane by finite element analysis. In order to mimic the multicrystalline Si and to observe structural modification around grain boundaries a model crystal growth set-up was applied using artificially designed seed. It was found that the dislocations occurred at grain boundaries, and propagated as crystal growth proceeded. The generation of dislocations was not spatially uniform but often localized in one of the grains. The calculated stress distribution, which depended on crystallographic orientation, implied that the shear stress on the slip plane around the grain boundary was likely to cause occurrence of dislocations.

Generation Mechanism of Dislocations during Directional Solidification of Multicrystalline Silicon using Artificially Designed Seed. I.Takahashi, N.Usami, K.Kutsukake, G.Stokkan, K.Morishita, K.Nakajima: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2010, 312[7], 897-901