Sensitivity of horizontal ribbon growth to solidification kinetics

Simulations of horizontal ribbon growth of silicon using a high-order finite element method were used to assess the sensitivity of results to the coefficients used in the solidification kinetics model. The position of the leading edge of the silicon sheet showed little sensitivity to the kinetic coefficient of roughened growth or step propagation. However, there was a significant difference in the leading edge position and maximum pull speed predictions between three correlations of two-dimensional nucleation of silicon proposed in the literature. The deviation between the results using the three correlations increased with increasing pull speed. The significant sensitivity of results to two-dimensional nucleation coefficient indicates the importance of accurate modeling of the two-dimensional nucleation for horizontal ribbon growth of silicon and the possibility of using HRG experiments to help improve models of two-dimensional nucleation.