Characterization of the Diamond Wire Sawing Process for Monocrystalline Silicon by Raman Spectroscopy and SIREX Polarimetry

A detailed approach to evaluate the sub-surface damage of diamond wire-sawn monocrystalline silicon wafers relating to the sawing process is presented. Residual stresses, the presence of amorphous silicon and microcracks are considered and related to diamond wire velocity and cutting ability. In particular, the degree of amorphization of the wafer surface is analyzed, as it may affect the etching performance (texturing) during solar cell manufacture. Raman spectroscopy and Scanning Infrared Stress Explorer (SIREX) measurements are used independently as non-destructive, contactless optical characterization methods to provide stress imaging with high spatial resolution. Raman mappings show that amorphous silicon layers can occur inhomogeneously across the surface of diamond wire-sawn wafers. The Raman and SIREX results reveal a connection between a higher fraction of the amorphous phase, a more inhomogeneous stress distribution and a lower peak maximum of the stress difference on wafers, depending on both the wire wear and the wire velocity. SIREX line scans of the in-plane difference of the principal stress components ∆σ taken across the sawing grooves show significant differences in magnitude and periodicity. Furthermore, the results are compared with the microcrack depth from the same investigation areas. The possibility to optimize the diamond wire sawing processes by analyzing the sub-surface stress of the wafers is offered by complementary use of both Raman and SIREX measurements.