High-Frequency Guided Wave Propagation and Scattering in Silicon Wafers

Thin monocrystalline silicon wafers are employed for the manufacturing of solar cells with high conversion efficiency. Micro-cracks can be induced by the wafer cutting process, leading to breakage of the fragile wafers. High-frequency guided waves allow for the monitoring of wafers and detection and characterization of surface defects. The material anisotropy of the monocrystalline silicon leads to variations of the guided wave characteristics, depending on the guided wave mode and propagation direction relative to the crystal orientation. Selective excitation of the first antisymmetric A₀ wave mode at 5 MHz center frequency was achieved experimentally using a custom-made wedge transducer. Strong wave pulses with limited beam skewing and widening were measured using noncontact laser interferometer measurements. This allowed the accurate characterization of the Lamb wave propagation and scattering at small artificial surface defects with a size of less than 100 µm. The surface extent of the defects of varying size was characterized using an optical microscope. The scattered guided wave field was evaluated, and characteristic parameters were extracted and correlated with the defect size, allowing in principle detection of small defects. Further investigations are required to explain the systematic asymmetry of the guided wave field in the vicinity of the indents.