Since last fall JEOL Ltd. (Yoshiyasu Harada, President) has been distributing the JEBG-3000UB, one of their high power beam sources featuring a power output of 300 kW, the highest in Japan, to Japanese solar battery manufacturers as a tool to eliminate impurities from silicon in the manufacturing process.

The high power beam source is used to produce high purity silicon needed for solar batteries by eliminating impurities contained in silicon material through vacuum melting using an electron beam.

JEOL’s high power beam sources have been used to produce high density magnetic recording tapes and wrapping films with an oxide barrier. The JEBG-3000UB, highly valued for its stability and controllability of the electron beam in continuous operation, has opened a new field of application.

As solar batteries are in increasing use as a clean energy source, the JEBG-3000UB is expected to contribute significantly to volume production of polycrystal silicon material.