Researchers report promising method to fabricate ultra-thin silicon solar cells

July 14, 2008--The nanotechnology research center IMEC (Leuven, Belgium) announced at the Semicon West 2008 conference in San Francisco that it is developing a new method to produce 50 µm thin crystalline silicon (Si) wafers for use in solar cells. The process involves mechanically initiating and propagating a crack parallel to the surface of a Si wafer. The method makes use of industrially available tools and is potentially kerf-loss free.