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Performance optimization of PERC solar cells based on laser ablation forming local contact on the rear

  • Hao Wu , Shikai Zhao , Jiaqi Hong , Dingsen Zou , Kaixiang Hu , Ping Zhu and Yizhan Chen EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 8, 2024
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High Temperature Materials and Processes
From the journal High Temperature Materials and Processes Volume 43 Issue 1

Abstract

To improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency (η) of the solar cell, a green wavelength (532 nm) laser source in a nanosecond range was used to ablate the passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) to form the contact holes. If the laser ablation hole opening process was not set properly, the diameter or the external expansion of holes would be too large, causing the decline of the PERC performance. The Gaussian distribution of the laser is regulated by the output power (P o) and the repetition frequency (f rep) of the incident pulse laser, so that the optimized morphology of holes is obtained on the back of the PERC solar cells. After the contact holes are screen printed by the aluminum paste, the local back surface field is finally formed. The experimental results showed that the outward expansion decreases obviously with the increase of laser P o. Second, the spacing of the holes decreases with the increase of the laser f rep. It was found that under the laser P o of 33.0 W and f rep of 1,400 kHz, the η of the industrial PERC solar cells was the highest. The Quokka simulations indicated that small outward expansion, small diameter, and long spacing of holes would further decrease the recombination parameter in the rear surface. With the optimized morphology of contact holes and the low contact resistance, the PERC cell’s calculated V oc and η improvements were 6.5 mV and 0.48%, respectively, which was verified with experimental findings.

Keywords: local back surface field; laser output power; repetition frequency; nanosecond laser ablation; solar cell simulation

1 Introduction

In recent years, the passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) [1] solar cell has been widely studied and applied because of its high-cost performance [2]. Its main feature is the back dielectric passivation improvement, thus the PERC solar cells reduce the surface recombination and obtain more light absorption. Therefore, compared to the back surface field (BSF) solar cell, the PERC solar cell with the local back surface field (LBSF) has higher photoelectric conversion efficiency (η). In general, the process of PERC solar cells with LBSF includes the back passivation layer, local opening, and point contacts [3]. As the process improvement of LBSF solar cells only requires relatively minimal modification from the original BSF manufacturing process, the output of PERC solar cells with LBSF has increased significantly in recent years [4,5].

Laser ablation has the advantages of high precision and efficiency. It is convenient to form various ablation patterns, such as points, lines, and surfaces. Compared with photolithography and mechanical scribing, laser ablation is more suitable for opening the passivation layer of LBSF solar cells [6,7]. In addition, nanosecond (ns) laser ablation is being applied to the industrialized large-scale solar cell processing [8]. Because it provides highly localized energy deposition, the heat conduction during the laser pulse is very small. Thus, the holes with a clear outline, small outward expansion, and moderate depth can be formed [9]. The ns laser pulses have been shown to gently ablate various passivation layers, thereby reducing damage caused by the laser ablation [10]. However, under the influence of high-output laser ablation, such as the excessive electron heat conduction and the generation of shock waves, the spacing between contact holes will be too close, and the amount of external expansion will be too large, which may reduce the performance of LBSF solar cells [11,12]. Most of the research efforts have been made to find the LFC (laser-fired contact) process conditions at a reduced laser power to suppress the laser-induced damage [13,14]. In case of the conventional LFC method, if the laser power is lowered, then the size of the contact holes becomes decreased, resulting in increased series resistances. Therefore, the process parameters of the laser ablation should be accurately controlled to obtain the appropriate contact holes. Choi et al. proposed a novel LFC process to overcome the limiting factors mentioned above and developed a three-step laser process to avoid unnecessary thermal energy transfer to Si wafers [15].

In this article, the effect of contact holes formed by industrial laser ablation on the performance of PERC solar cells was studied. Laser ablation usually has two working modes: the laser output power (P o) and the repetition frequency (f rep). The adjustment of the operating mode of the ns laser can effectively control the Gaussian distribution of the laser and the energy density of the spot, so the optimized contact holes can be formed on the back of PERC solar cells. In this article, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to measure the morphology of the contact holes, including the diameter, spacing, and outward expansion of the contact holes. Combined with the laser theory, it is found that the outward expansion and spacing of the holes formed by laser ablation can be controlled by the laser P o and the f rep. Through these principles, the morphology of contact holes can be optimized under the different combination processes of laser P o and f rep.

Besides the morphology test, the J–V test of the PERC solar cells is also carried out. Combined with the solar cell theory, it is found that under the same condition of the electronic paste and cell diffusion process, the spacing and external expansion of the contact hole formed by laser ablation had a significant impact on the open circuit voltage (V oc), short circuit current density (J sc), filling factor (FF), and η [16,17].

Through the solar cell simulation of the contact holes on the back, this article further explores the influence of the diameter, spacing, and external expansion of the contact holes on the performance of PERC cells, as to find the optimized contact hole to improve the η of the solar cells. The simulation results showed that the η of PERC cells changed regularly with the diameter, spacing, and external expansion of the contact holes obtained by laser ablation under the same processes of cell diffusion, metallization, and passivation. By combining experiments and simulations, a set of matched laser P o and f rep were obtained. The ultimate goal is to improve the conversion efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells.

2 Experimental details

2.1 PERC solar cell fabrication schematic

The PERC solar cell fabrication schematic is shown in Figure 1. A large area p-type CZ silicon wafer with a size of 182 mm × 182 mm, a bulk resistivity of 0.7–0.9 Ω·cm, and a thickness of 155 µm is used in this study. The damage of the silicon wafer is etched first, followed by standard RCA cleaning. The pyramid texture on the front is generated by an alkaline deformation solution without isopropanol (IPA). The phosphorus is diffused in the diffusion furnace with liquid POCl3. Subsequently, the laser selectively diffuses, which results in sheet resistance (R s) of 90 Ω/□ for the phosphor emitter. The silicon nitride (SiN x ) passivation is deposited on the front of solar cells with a thickness of 75 nm by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The back is passivated by PECVD stack layer of aluminum oxide (AlO y ) and SiN x , with a thickness of 8 and 78 nm, respectively. Then, the ns laser is used to locally ablate the AlO y /SiN x stack passivation layer and open the contact holes at the rear. Finally, the back electrode is formed by screen printing with the aluminum paste in the back hole of the silicon wafer. The front grid is also screen printed with silver paste. Finally, an industrial sintering furnace is used to sinter the samples at a peak temperature of 850°C [18,19,20]. The structure of the PERC solar cell is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1 The PERC solar cell fabrication schematic with LBSF. (a) RCA cleaning. (b) Texture and diffusion. (c) Passivate the back and front. (d) Laser ablate to open holes. (e) Screen printing the paste. (f) Sintering.
Figure 1

The PERC solar cell fabrication schematic with LBSF. (a) RCA cleaning. (b) Texture and diffusion. (c) Passivate the back and front. (d) Laser ablate to open holes. (e) Screen printing the paste. (f) Sintering.

Figure 2 (a) PERC solar cell cross-section. (b) Back design of the PERC solar cell.
Figure 2

(a) PERC solar cell cross-section. (b) Back design of the PERC solar cell.

2.2 Theory of laser and solar cells

The laser system consists of the ns laser source. The ns laser source emits laser pulses at the wavelength (λ) of 532 nm, and the range of operating f rep is 200–2,000 kHz. The total P o of the ns laser is 45 W. The basic ablation parameters include the ablation threshold fluence (F TH), the spot radius (r) at the interaction plane, and the energy penetration depth (z 0) in the substrate. For a Gaussian laser beam profile, the diameter (d), and the depth (z) of an ablated laser crater are related to the peak fluence (F P) [21]. Through the following equations, it can be seen that the d and z increase with the increase of F P.

(1) d 2 = 2 r 2 ln F P F T H

(2) z = z 0 ln F P F T H

(3) V oc = n k T q ln J sc J 0

(4) η = FF J sc V oc P in

The morphology of holes formed by laser ablation affects the passivation performance of the solar surface. In general, the improved passivation is associated with an increase in the effective minority carrier lifetime, and a lower J 0 [22]. For example, a low J 0 can yield a higher V oc in equation (3), where n is the diode ideality factor. In turn, J 0 is strongly related to the surface passivation quality. Therefore, the contact holes with clear contour and appropriate spacing can be reduced J 0, and higher V oc, where η is dictated by equation (4) [23].

3 Results and discussion

3.1 The laser P o modifies the morphology of local contact holes and the solar cell performance

In this article, the ns pulse laser source with a green wavelength (532 nm), which can be industrialized and mass-produced, is used to ablate the back passivation layer of p-type PERC solar cells to form the local point contacts. By adjusting the P o and f rep of the laser ablating, the different morphology of contact holes was obtained. Then, electrodes are formed by screen printing the aluminum paste, and finally, the LBSF on the back of PERC solar cells is formed.

The morphology of the contact hole and the solar cell performance formed by different laser processing are analyzed. First, we analyze the contact holes formed at the same laser f rep of 1,400 kHz, but with different laser P o of 30.0–39.0 W. We conduct three experiments at each P o, test two cells each time, and randomly select nine points for measurement on each cell. As shown in Table 1, it is found that under the fixed f rep, the diameter and the spacing of holes formed by laser ablation remain nearly constant as laser P o increase, while the outward expansion decreases significantly. When using the low laser P o to form the contact holes, the passivation layer couldn’t be removed completely and many residues will appear at the edge of the holes, which makes the edge of the holes rough [24,25]. Therefore, when the laser P o gradually reaches more than 33 W, the shape of the contact hole’s edge becomes neat, and the outward expansion becomes smaller.

Table 1

The laser P o modifies the morphology of contact holes

P o (W) 30.0 31.5 33.0 34.5 36.0 37.5 39.0
Diameter of holes (μm) 33.0 ± 1.6 33.1 ± 1.5 33.5 ± 1.6 32.9 ± 1.5 33.5 ± 1.6 33.0 ± 1.5 33.4 ± 1.6
Spacing of holes (μm) 7.16 ± 0.24 7.05 ± 0.25 6.63 ± 0.21 7.11 ± 0.24 6.64 ± 0.22 6.80 ± 0.24 6.96 ± 0.25
Outward expansion (μm) 7.65 ± 0.25 7.12 ± 0.24 6.52 ± 0.22 6.12 ± 0.21 5.46 ± 0.15 4.80 ± 0.13 3.67 ± 0.10
Ratio of opening area (%) 0.56 ± 0.02 0.57 ± 0.02 0.58 ± 0.02 0.56 ± 0.02 0.58 ± 0.02 0.57 ± 0.02 0.58 ± 0.02

The J–V test of the PERC solar cells with LBSF is shown in Figure 3. With the same laser f rep, when the laser P o increases, the V oc and J sc show a downward trend in the large P o range, but the FF tends to be large in the middle P o range. This is because, with the increase of the laser P o, the outward expansion of holes decreases, resulting in the reduction of surface defects and recombination of the passivation layer, so the V oc increases in the low P o. However, if the laser P o is too high, the passivation layer can’t absorb all the laser energy, so the excess laser energy will destroy the silicon substrate, and the surface defects increase, which affects the J sc of the solar cells. So the appropriate spacing, small outward expansion, and appropriate opening ratio of contact holes can get the high J sc and FF [26]. It can be seen that under laser P o of 33.0 W, the PERC solar cell with LBSF through laser ablation holes had higher η.

Figure 3 The laser P o modifies the PERC solar cell J–V performance. (a) Open circuit voltage V oc, (b) Short circuit current density J sc, (c) Fill factor FF, (d) Cell efficiency η.
Figure 3

The laser P o modifies the PERC solar cell J–V performance. (a) Open circuit voltage V oc, (b) Short circuit current density J sc, (c) Fill factor FF, (d) Cell efficiency η.

3.2 The laser operating f rep modifies the morphology of contact holes and solar cell performance

As shown in Figure 1(d), the contact holes on the back of the solar cell are formed by laser engraving patterns on the set working area. The laser ablation is carried out point by point at a fixed scanning speed. Therefore, the laser operating f rep of the laser will affect the spacing of the laser holes. When the laser is fixed at the same laser P o of 33.0 W, but with a different laser operating f rep of 800–1,600 kHz, the morphology of holes formed by laser ablation is analyzed. Similarly, we conduct three experiments at each f rep, test two cells each time, and randomly select nine points for measurement on each cell.

As shown in Table 2, under the condition of the same laser P o, with the increase of the laser f rep, the diameter of holes formed by laser ablation does not change obviously, but the spacing and the outward expansion of holes become smaller, and the ratio of the opening area becomes bigger. This phenomenon is due to the fact that when the laser ablates point by point at a constant rate in a fixed working area, the density of holes increases with the increase of the laser f rep, resulting in a smaller spacing of the contact holes.

Table 2

The laser f rep modifies the morphology of contact holes

f rep (kHz) 800 1,000 1,200 1,300 1,400 1,500 1,600
Diameter of holes (μm) 33.6 ± 1.3 34.5 ± 1.2 33.1 ± 1.2 33.4 ± 1.3 33.5 ± 1.6 34.1 ± 1.4 32.9 ± 1.3
Spacing of holes (μm) 43.50 ± 1.80 27.80 ± 0.90 22.40 ± 0.70 9.76 ± 0.31 6.63 ± 0.21 6.48 ± 0.20 6.19 ± 0.15
Outward expansion (μm) 7.43 ± 0.20 7.17 ± 0.21 6.94 ± 0.20 6.72 ± 0.21 6.52 ± 0.22 6.10 ± 0.18 5.72 ± 0.14
Ratio of opening area (%) 0.39 ± 0.01 0.55 ± 0.02 0.51 ± 0.02 0.58 ± 0.02 0.58 ± 0.02 0.60 ± 0.02 0.63 ± 0.02

As shown in Figure 4, the laser f rep modifies the J–V performance of the PERC solar cell with LBSF. Under the same condition of the pulse laser P o, when the laser f rep increases in the small range, the value of V oc increases as the outward expansion becomes small. In the large laser f rep range, the value of V oc decreases as the spacing of holes becomes small. At the same time, FF and J sc increase with the increase of laser f rep above 1,300 Hz. This is because with the increase of laser f rep, the ratio of the opening area increases and the outward expansion of holes decreases, resulting in the increase of contact area and the decrease of the series resistance. In this process, there is a f rep, which can obtain both the lower J 0 and the lower series resistance. It can be seen that when the laser f rep of 1,400 kHz, the FF and η of PERC solar cells were the highest.

Figure 4 The laser frep modifies the J–V performance of the PERC solar cell with LBSF. (a) Open circuit voltage V oc, (b) Short circuit current density J sc, (c) Fill factor FF, and (d) Cell efficiency η.
Figure 4

The laser frep modifies the J–V performance of the PERC solar cell with LBSF. (a) Open circuit voltage V oc, (b) Short circuit current density J sc, (c) Fill factor FF, and (d) Cell efficiency η.

3.3 The morphology of the local contact holes modified by laser P o and f rep influences the PL of the PERC solar cell

Figure 5(a) and (c) shows the SEM of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 33.0 and 39.0 W. The SEM demonstrates that the spacing and the outward expansion of the contact hole decrease as the laser P o increases from 33.0 to 39.0 W, which is consistent with the previous chapter 3.1. The photoluminescence (PL) was also used to test the solar cell performance. If the laser ablation is excessive or the contact resistance increases, the lower luminescent contrast will be presented uniformly in the full cell area. As shown in Figure 5(b) and (d), the mean brightness of PL decreases as the laser P o increases from 33.0 to 39.0 W. This is because when the laser power is 39.0 W, the spacing of the holes formed by laser ablation becomes smaller, resulting in a reduction in the passivation performance, causing a decrease in J 0 and V oc. Through the PL test using an excitation of 915 nm, we further found that the morphology of the contact hole formed by ablation can effectively improve the photoelectric performance of the PERC solar cell when the laser P o is 33.0 W.

Figure 5 The SEM of the contact holes and PL of the PERC solar cell. (a and b) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz. (c and d) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 39.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz. (e and f) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 800 kHz.
Figure 5

The SEM of the contact holes and PL of the PERC solar cell. (a and b) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz. (c and d) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 39.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz. (e and f) The SEM and PL of contact holes ablated by the laser P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 800 kHz.

Figure 5(a) and (e) shows the SEM of contact holes ablated by the laser f rep of 1,400 and 800 kHz. The outward expansion is circled in black in Figure 5(a). The SEM demonstrates that the spacing of the contact hole increases, and the outward expansion of the hole decreases as the laser f rep decreases from 1,400 to 800 kHz, which is consistent with the previous chapter 3.2. As shown in Figure 5(b) and (f), the mean brightness of PL decreases as the laser f rep decreases from 1,400 to 800 kHz. This is because when the laser f rep of 800 kHz, the ratio of opening area becomes small and the spacing of the holes formed by laser ablation becomes too large, resulting in a reduction in the contact surface, causing a decrease of V oc. Through the PL test experiment above, we further found that the morphology of the contact hole formed by ablation can effectively improve the photoelectric performance of the PERC solar cell when the laser f rep is 1,400 kHz.

Combined with the above research, we found that with the P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz, the η of PERC solar cells was the largest. This was mainly due to the morphology of back contact holes formed by laser ablation, including the optimized spacing and expansion of holes, so as to reduce J 0, and improve V oc.

3.4 Simulation analysis of PERC solar cells with LBSF

The Quokka simulation software was used to simulate the PERC solar cells with LBSF on the back. Our simulation parameters for PERC solar cells are shown in Table 3. Under the same conditions of diffusion, passivation, and electronic paste process, the following simulation was carried out by changing the diameter and the spacing of the contact holes with the lower contact resistance [27].

Table 3

The PERC solar cells simulation parameters, where R s is the sheet resistance, ρ is the resistivity, ρ c is the contact resistivity, and J 0 is the recombination parameter

Simulation parameters R s-light (Ω·□‒1) R s-deep (Ω·□‒1) J 01,e (fA·cm‒2) J 01,BSF (fA·cm‒2) J 01,LBSF (fA·cm‒2) J 02 (fA·cm‒2) ρ c (Ω·cm‒2) Diameter (μm) Spacing (μm)
Values 240 90 25 7 400 1.0 × 106 1 × 10−4∼1 × 10‒3 20–34 6.6∼15

Due to the laser ablation, the different morphology of contact holes can be formed on the rear of the PERC solar cells. The diameter and spacing of the contact holes have a great impact on the rear layer. As shown in Table 4, we found that with the increase of diameter, the passivation of LBSF on the rear of PERC solar cells becomes worse, thus reducing the V oc. The Quokka simulations indicated that the small diameter and large spacing of holes would further decrease the J 0 in the rear surface. Through the simulation, it was found that with the diameter of 34 μm, the spacing of 6.6 μm, and the ρ c of 1.0 × 10−3 Ω·cm2, the η of PERC solar cells was 23.40%, which was verified with experimental findings. With the ρ c of 1.0 × 10−4 Ω·cm2, the diameter of 20 μm and the spacing of 15 μm, the PERC cell’s calculated V oc and η improvements were 6.5 mV and 0.48%, respectively, which was due to the small outward expansion, small diameter and large spacing of the contact holes with the low ρ c.

Table 4

J–V simulation results of PERC solar cells with LBSF under different morphology of contact holes

Diameter (μm) Spacing (μm) ρ c (Ω·cm2) J sc (mA·cm−2) V oc (mV) FF (%) η (%)
20 15 1.0 × 10−4 41.2 701.2 82.84 23.88
25 12 1.0 × 10−4 41.1 698.2 82.79 23.76
29 9 1.0 × 10−4 41.1 696.2 82.58 23.63
34 6.6 1.0 × 10−4 40.9 695.6 82.35 23.53
34 6.6 1.0 × 10−3 40.9 694.7 81.92 23.40

4 Conclusion

In this article, we optimized the morphology of contact holes in the LBSF to improve the PERC solar cell performance through the industrial green wavelength laser ablation. First, we adjust the P o and f rep of the laser to obtain the required laser spot and ablate the passivation layer on the rear of PERC solar cells to form the optimized contact holes. It is found that with the decrease in the laser P o, the outward expansion of the holes increases obviously. With the decrease in laser f rep, the spacing of contact holes increases obviously. Second, the external expansion increases with the defects of the passivation layer and reduces the V oc of PERC cells. At the same time, the passivation performance could be weakened and J 0 could be improved as the spacing between holes decreases.

Finally, the Quokka simulations indicate that under the conditions of the solar cell process and electronic paste, the small diameter and large spacing of holes would further decrease J 0 in the rear surface. Therefore, it is found that with the laser P o of 33.0 W, f rep of 1,400 kHz, the contact hole morphology meets the requirements, and the η of solar cells is 23.40%, which is verified with experimental findings. With the small outward expansion, small diameter, large spacing of the contact holes, and low contact resistance, the η of PERC solar cells can increase to 23.88%. The competitive efficiency at fractional cost makes this process desirable for the industry.

# Hao Wu and Shikai Zhao are co-lead authors.

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Acknowledgments

Wu H. and S.K. Zhao contributed equally to this work. The authors greatly appreciated the support of the Science and Technology Plan Project in Jiangmen, China under project number of 2019030100060009187, and the University Enterprise Cooperation Project in Wuyi University under project number HX22023. The authors thank for the support of Jiangsu Runyang Yueda Century Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd., because this experimental data is from the enterprise production line of a large number of solar cell test results.

  1. Funding information: The research is supported by the Science and Technology Plan Project in Jiangmen, China, under project number 2019030100060009187, and the University Enterprise Cooperation Project in Wuyi University under project number HX22023.

  2. Author contributions: wu Hao: writing – original draft preparation, project administration, conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, validation; Zhao Shikai: writing – original draft preparation, investigation, methodology, data curation, resources, validation; Hong Jiaqi: data curation, investigation, validation; Zou Dingsen: formal analysis, resources; Hu Kaixiang: investigation, visualization; Zhu Ping: funding acquisition, writing – review and editing; Chen Yizhan: conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision, writing – review and editing, project administration.

  3. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Data availability statement: Data will be made available on request.

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Received: 2023-07-13
Revised: 2024-01-23
Accepted: 2024-02-16
Published Online: 2024-03-08

© 2024 the author(s), published by De Gruyter

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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  2. De-chlorination of poly(vinyl) chloride using Fe2O3 and the improvement of chlorine fixing ratio in FeCl2 by SiO2 addition
  3. Reductive behavior of nickel and iron metallization in magnesian siliceous nickel laterite ores under the action of sulfur-bearing natural gas
  4. Study on properties of CaF2–CaO–Al2O3–MgO–B2O3 electroslag remelting slag for rack plate steel
  5. The origin of {113}<361> grains and their impact on secondary recrystallization in producing ultra-thin grain-oriented electrical steel
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  14. Application of laser surface detection technology in blast furnace gas flow control and optimization
  15. Preparation of MoO3 powder by hydrothermal method
  16. The comparative study of Ti-bearing oxides introduced by different methods
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https://doi.org/10.1515/htmp-2022-0326
Keywords for this article
local back surface field; laser output power; repetition frequency; nanosecond laser ablation; solar cell simulation
Creative Commons
BY 4.0

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Research Articles
  2. De-chlorination of poly(vinyl) chloride using Fe2O3 and the improvement of chlorine fixing ratio in FeCl2 by SiO2 addition
  3. Reductive behavior of nickel and iron metallization in magnesian siliceous nickel laterite ores under the action of sulfur-bearing natural gas
  4. Study on properties of CaF2–CaO–Al2O3–MgO–B2O3 electroslag remelting slag for rack plate steel
  5. The origin of {113}<361> grains and their impact on secondary recrystallization in producing ultra-thin grain-oriented electrical steel
  6. Channel parameter optimization of one-strand slab induction heating tundish with double channels
  7. Effect of rare-earth Ce on the texture of non-oriented silicon steels
  8. Performance optimization of PERC solar cells based on laser ablation forming local contact on the rear
  9. Effect of ladle-lining materials on inclusion evolution in Al-killed steel during LF refining
  10. Analysis of metallurgical defects in enamel steel castings
  11. Effect of cooling rate and Nb synergistic strengthening on microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength rebar
  12. Effect of grain size on fatigue strength of 304 stainless steel
  13. Analysis and control of surface cracks in a B-bearing continuous casting blooms
  14. Application of laser surface detection technology in blast furnace gas flow control and optimization
  15. Preparation of MoO3 powder by hydrothermal method
  16. The comparative study of Ti-bearing oxides introduced by different methods
  17. Application of MgO/ZrO2 coating on 309 stainless steel to increase resistance to corrosion at high temperatures and oxidation by an electrochemical method
  18. Effect of applying a full oxygen blast furnace on carbon emissions based on a carbon metabolism calculation model
  19. Characterization of low-damage cutting of alfalfa stalks by self-sharpening cutters made of gradient materials
  20. Thermo-mechanical effects and microstructural evolution-coupled numerical simulation on the hot forming processes of superalloy turbine disk
  21. Endpoint prediction of BOF steelmaking based on state-of-the-art machine learning and deep learning algorithms
  22. Effect of calcium treatment on inclusions in 38CrMoAl high aluminum steel
  23. Effect of isothermal transformation temperature on the microstructure, precipitation behavior, and mechanical properties of anti-seismic rebar
  24. Evolution of residual stress and microstructure of 2205 duplex stainless steel welded joints during different post-weld heat treatment
  25. Effect of heating process on the corrosion resistance of zinc iron alloy coatings
  26. BOF steelmaking endpoint carbon content and temperature soft sensor model based on supervised weighted local structure preserving projection
  27. Innovative approaches to enhancing crack repair: Performance optimization of biopolymer-infused CXT
  28. Structural and electrochromic property control of WO3 films through fine-tuning of film-forming parameters
  29. Influence of non-linear thermal radiation on the dynamics of homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reactions between the cone and the disk
  30. Thermodynamic modeling of stacking fault energy in Fe–Mn–C austenitic steels
  31. Research on the influence of cemented carbide micro-textured structure on tribological properties
  32. Performance evaluation of fly ash-lime-gypsum-quarry dust (FALGQ) bricks for sustainable construction
  33. First-principles study on the interfacial interactions between h-BN and Si3N4
  34. Analysis of carbon emission reduction capacity of hydrogen-rich oxygen blast furnace based on renewable energy hydrogen production
  35. Just-in-time updated DBN BOF steel-making soft sensor model based on dense connectivity of key features
  36. Effect of tempering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Q125 shale gas casing steel
  37. Review Articles
  38. A review of emerging trends in Laves phase research: Bibliometric analysis and visualization
  39. Effect of bottom stirring on bath mixing and transfer behavior during scrap melting in BOF steelmaking: A review
  40. High-temperature antioxidant silicate coating of low-density Nb–Ti–Al alloy: A review
  41. Communications
  42. Experimental investigation on the deterioration of the physical and mechanical properties of autoclaved aerated concrete at elevated temperatures
  43. Damage evaluation of the austenitic heat-resistance steel subjected to creep by using Kikuchi pattern parameters
  44. Topical Issue on Focus of Hot Deformation of Metaland High Entropy Alloys - Part II
  45. Synthesis of aluminium (Al) and alumina (Al2O3)-based graded material by gravity casting
  46. Experimental investigation into machining performance of magnesium alloy AZ91D under dry, minimum quantity lubrication, and nano minimum quantity lubrication environments
  47. Numerical simulation of temperature distribution and residual stress in TIG welding of stainless-steel single-pass flange butt joint using finite element analysis
  48. Special Issue on A Deep Dive into Machining and Welding Advancements - Part I
  49. Electro-thermal performance evaluation of a prismatic battery pack for an electric vehicle
  50. Experimental analysis and optimization of machining parameters for Nitinol alloy: A Taguchi and multi-attribute decision-making approach
  51. Experimental and numerical analysis of temperature distributions in SA 387 pressure vessel steel during submerged arc welding
  52. Optimization of process parameters in plasma arc cutting of commercial-grade aluminium plate
  53. Multi-response optimization of friction stir welding using fuzzy-grey system
  54. Mechanical and micro-structural studies of pulsed and constant current TIG weldments of super duplex stainless steels and Austenitic stainless steels
  55. Stretch-forming characteristics of austenitic material stainless steel 304 at hot working temperatures
  56. Work hardening and X-ray diffraction studies on ASS 304 at high temperatures
  57. Study of phase equilibrium of refractory high-entropy alloys using the atomic size difference concept for turbine blade applications
  58. A novel intelligent tool wear monitoring system in ball end milling of Ti6Al4V alloy using artificial neural network
  59. A hybrid approach for the machinability analysis of Incoloy 825 using the entropy-MOORA method
  60. Special Issue on Recent Developments in 3D Printed Carbon Materials - Part II
  61. Innovations for sustainable chemical manufacturing and waste minimization through green production practices
  62. Topical Issue on Conference on Materials, Manufacturing Processes and Devices - Part I
  63. Characterization of Co–Ni–TiO2 coatings prepared by combined sol-enhanced and pulse current electrodeposition methods
  64. Hot deformation behaviors and microstructure characteristics of Cr–Mo–Ni–V steel with a banded structure
  65. Effects of normalizing and tempering temperature on the bainite microstructure and properties of low alloy fire-resistant steel bars
  66. Dynamic evolution of residual stress upon manufacturing Al-based diesel engine diaphragm
  67. Study on impact resistance of steel fiber reinforced concrete after exposure to fire
  68. Bonding behaviour between steel fibre and concrete matrix after experiencing elevated temperature at various loading rates
  69. Diffusion law of sulfate ions in coral aggregate seawater concrete in the marine environment
  70. Microstructure evolution and grain refinement mechanism of 316LN steel
  71. Investigation of the interface and physical properties of a Kovar alloy/Cu composite wire processed by multi-pass drawing
  72. The investigation of peritectic solidification of high nitrogen stainless steels by in-situ observation
  73. Microstructure and mechanical properties of submerged arc welded medium-thickness Q690qE high-strength steel plate joints
  74. Experimental study on the effect of the riveting process on the bending resistance of beams composed of galvanized Q235 steel
  75. Density functional theory study of Mg–Ho intermetallic phases
  76. Investigation of electrical properties and PTCR effect in double-donor doping BaTiO3 lead-free ceramics
  77. Special Issue on Thermal Management and Heat Transfer
  78. On the thermal performance of a three-dimensional cross-ternary hybrid nanofluid over a wedge using a Bayesian regularization neural network approach
  79. Time dependent model to analyze the magnetic refrigeration performance of gadolinium near the room temperature
  80. Heat transfer characteristics in a non-Newtonian (Williamson) hybrid nanofluid with Hall and convective boundary effects
  81. Computational role of homogeneous–heterogeneous chemical reactions and a mixed convective ternary hybrid nanofluid in a vertical porous microchannel
  82. Thermal conductivity evaluation of magnetized non-Newtonian nanofluid and dusty particles with thermal radiation
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