Claims
- 1. In a continuous process for converting a polycrystalline semiconductor sheet to a macrocrystalline sheet which comprises the steps of:
- heating said polycrystalline sheet to form a molten region of small width as compared to the width of said sheet, said molten region having enlarged molten regions at each end thereof;
- moving said sheet to allow said molten region to travel lengthwise along said sheet while extending the width of said molten region and maintaining said enlarged molten regions at the ends thereof;
- continuing to extend the width of said molten region until coextensive with the width of said sheet; and
- allowing said sheet to solidify into macrocrystalline material as said molten region passes lengthwise along it, the improvement comprising continuously creating additional small width molten regions having enlarged molten regions at each end thereof, said additional regions created centrally of the previously extended molten region as the edges of the previous enlarged molten regions extend to the sides of said sheet, and extending said additional molten regions laterally outwardly along said traveling molten region to the sides of said sheet.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said molten region having an extended width is shaped to have a linear central portion and shaped end portions whereby growth vectors associated with said shaped end portions sweep defects to the sides of said sheet.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said shaped end portions have a substantially circular shape.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 656,768, filed Feb. 9, 1976, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
99933 |
Sep 1973 |
DDX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Lawson et al., Preparation of Single Crystals, Butterworth, Lauder, 1958, pp. 10 to 20. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
656768 |
Feb 1976 |
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