Growth of silicon thin film by LPE on porous silicon bilayers

The fabrication of solar cells based on the transfer of a thin silicon film on a foreign substrate is an attractive way to realise cheap and efficient photovoltaic devices. The aim of this work is to realise a thin mono-crystalline silicon film on a double porous silicon layer in order to detach and transfer it on mullite. The first step is the fabrication of a double porous silicon layer by electrochemical anodisation using two different current densities. The low current leads to a low porosity layer and during annealing, the recrystallisation of this layer allows epitaxial growth. The second current leads to a high porosity which permits the transfer on to a low cost substrate. Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) performed with indium (or In+Ga) in the temperature range of 950–1050°C leads to almost homogeneous layers. Growth rate is about 0.35 μm min⁻¹. Crystallinity of the grown epilayer is similar on porous silicon and on single crystal silicon. In this paper, we focus on the realisation of porous silicon sacrificial layer and subsequent LPE growth. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.