Clarkson Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering Brian Helenbrook and Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Eunsu Paek have been awarded a National Science Foundation grant worth over $513,000 for their research project entitled “Horizontal Ribbon Growth of Single-Crystal Silicon.” The award starts September 1.
Horizontal ribbon growth is the method of manufacturing single-crystal silicon wafers that can be used in high-efficiency solar cells. It has the potential to reduce the cost of the wafers by 75% compared to the current manufacturing process (Czochralski growth). Commercialization has been difficult, however, due to a lack of fundamental understanding of the physics that control this process.
This award supports research that will help further our understanding of the process. The team will work to develop a predictive model of horizontal ribbon growth of single-crystal silicon to reduce the time and costs needed for commercialization. This project is an opportunity to make significant, fundamental advances in the understanding of solidification kinetics and potentially lead to improvements in other crystal manufacturing processes.
The grant will promote the development of new U.S. industries such as LECT Inc. (Leading Edge Crystal Technologies) that are attempting to commercialize the process and contribute to workforce training in the areas of fluid mechanics, thermal engineering, and materials science.
See more details on this grant published by NSF here: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1762802.
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