ingot

Ingots are silicon precursors for chip production or the manufacture of solar cells. They are the silicon ingots or silicon cylinders coming from the silicon melt, from which the wafers are cut.

In terms of shape, ingots can be round silicon rods or cylinders, but also square ingots. Ingots consist of monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon and are doped with dopants such as boron, phosphorus, antimony or arsenic. The ingot length is between 50 cm and 1 m, with diameters up to 45 cm. Polycrystalline silicon can also be silicon ingots. For the production of wafers, the ingots are cut into thin slices with diamond saws.

Silicon cylinder (ingot) made of monocrystalline silicon, photo: http://de.yixinwafer.com

In order for the silicon to have the desired electrical properties, it is doped with various chemical elements. The most common doping is with boron (B), phosphorus (P), arsenic( As) and antimony (Sb).