Purification of metallurgical silicon using iron as impurity getter, part II: Extent of silicon purification

Purification of metallurgical grade silicon (MG–Si) by using iron as the impurity getter has been investigated. The technique involves growing Si dendrites from an alloy of MG–Si with iron, followed by their separation using a gravity based technique and acid leaching. The effects of cooling rate of the alloy and the subsequent quenching temperature on the segregation of the impurities were studied. It was found that slow cooling of the alloy below the eutectic temperature causes an increase in the Si impurity concentration due to back–diffusion of the impurities from the alloy to the Si. Quenching the alloy at temperatures above the eutectic eliminated this effect, increasing the purity of the Si product. A significant reduction in the concentration of the major impurities was achieved, making the Si product a suitable feedstock for solar grade silicon generation. The concentrations, in ppmw, of some elements in the Si product are Al: 10, B: 2, Mn: 3, Ni: 3, Cr: 1, Fe: 1, P: 29. Other impurities including V, Ba, Li, Be, and Mg were all below 0.5 ppmw.The authors would like to thank ARISE technologies and NSERC for their financial support of this research