An estimate has been made of the feasibility of a metallurgical puri®cation process, the NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) melt-puri®cation process, for manufacturing solar-grade silicon from metallurgical-grade silicon. Equipment has been developed to pilot manufacturing plant scale. The system comprises an electron-beam furnace for phosphorus removal and a plasma furnace for boron removal. Each furnace has a mold for directional solidi®cation to remove metallic impurities. The concentration of each impurity in the silicon ingot puri®ed through the whole process satis®ed the solar-grade level. The Solar-grade silicon produced showed p-type polarity and resistivity within the range 0Á5±1Á5 cm.

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The evaporation behavior of phosphorus in molten silicon during electron beam irradiation was investigated with the aim of producing solar grade silicon (SOG-Si) from metallurgical grade silicon (MG-Si) by a sequential metallurgical process. Batch experiments showed that the evaporation rate of phosphorus increased in proportion to the power of the electron beam and phosphorus content. The phosphorus removal rate was controlled by free evaporation from the molten silicon surface. Electron beam irradiation makes it possible to secure a higher temperature at the free liquid surface, which results in more efficient dephosphorization. A continuous flow experiment indicated that the phosphorus concentration at the outlet increased when the silicon feed rate was raised, which was attributed to the fact that the hearth residence time of the molten silicon was proportionally shorter. Thus, the flow of molten silicon in the hearth did not behave as a complete mixed reactor flow type reaction, but was close to a plug flow type reaction. With a 150 kg scale pilot manufacturing plant, MG-Si containing about 25 mass ppm of phosphorus was successfully purified to P < 0.1 mass ppm.

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