Abstract
A mechanical dicing saw in combination with bevelled blades has been used to create a variety of textured structures in cast polycrystalline silicon, ribbon, and also single crystalline material for photovoltaic applications. It is shown that the mechanical grooving step may be applied consecutively to both the front and the back surfaces of a silicon blank. The independence of this method with regard to crystal orientation together with a variable blade tip angle represents a hitherto unknown freedom of poly-Si solar cell design. flexible textured foils with a minimum silicon thickness of 20 mu m are demonstrated. This is an important prerequisite for the preparation of highly efficient solar cell structures in finely grained polycrystalline sheets with diffusion lengths smaller than 50 mu m.

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