 HiCz™ Equipment
Enabling a critical market shift to higher efficiencies at lower costs than today’s batch CZ.
In August 2011, GT Advanced Technologies acquired Confluence Solar, an ingot manufacturer focused on developing high quality, advanced monocrystalline material using their proprietary HiCz™ continuously-fed growth technology. GT is developing a HiCz™ furnace for p-type and n-type monocrystalline growth. The HiCz™ furnace is expected to deliver significant improvements in cost, yield and quality over today’s batch CZ tools.
HiCz™ features include:
- Simultaneous feeding, growing, doping
- High growth rates
- “Unlimited” charge size
- Stable hot zone and thermal conditions
- p-type and n-type growth capability
HiCz™ key benefits:
- Higher yield: more useable crystal per kg of silicon
- Higher throughput: more useable crystal per hour
- Uniform interstitial oxygen
- Higher and more uniform minority carrier lifetime
- Uniform resistivity independent of dopant
- Lower hot zone costs per kilogram of ingot
HiCz™ pullers are currently in operation in GT’s facility in St. Louis, MO. GT plans to offer a highly competitive HiCz equipment offering late CY12/early CY13.
HiCz® Materials
GT’s HiCz® materials business is focused on enabling next generation cell technology. GT is currently growing advanced HiCz® monocrystalline materials in its St. Louis, MO facility.
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