A new method for rapid measurement of orientations and sizes of grains in multicrystalline silicon wafers

We describe a new technique for rapid measurement of orientations and sizes of various grains in a multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafer. The wafer is texture etched to expose (111) faces nearest to each surface. Because grains of different orientations result in uniquely different texture shapes, they also have well-defined reflectance values. Hence, the process of determining the grain orientations is brought down to making reflectance maps. Reflectance maps are produced by PVSCAN or reflectometer (GT FabScan), and then transformed into orientation maps. Because the grain boundaries are very well delineated in the reflectance maps, they are also excellent for making measurements of size and distribution of grains. We will compare the results of this technique with other standard techniques.