Minimum Silicon Wafer Thickness for ID Wafering

It may be more cost‐effective to produce larger diameter silicon CZ solar cells. However, greater thickness is anticipated to be necessary for larger diameter wafers to withstand wafering, cell processing, and handling. No means of quantifying this anticipated thickness increase is available to provide standards or guide for cell manufacturers. In this paper equations relating wafer thickness and diameter were derived by using fracture mechanics analysis. An analytical model was used as a guideline to estimate minimum silicon wafer thickness vs. diameter requirements for ID wafering in terms of fracture mechanics parameters. The model also indicated the minimum wafer side support required for various wafer thickness at any diameter.