Hashin-Shtrikman Bounds of Cubic Crystalline Aggregate Elasticity for poly-Si Solar Cells

Abstract

In present work, the studies on the analytical determination of polycrystalline silicon effective mechanical properties
for solar cells based on a class of bounds are intensified while second-order estimates are introduced. Thereby the fundamental
aspects of the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds of linear elastic properties for a cubic crystal aggregate are surveyed. The aggregate
is considered homogeneous and isotropic in a statistical sense. This framework is exploited to determine improved bounds in
comparison to the classically applied first-order bounds. The results gained are related to previously published Voigt and Reuss
bounds and to experimental data. Improvements and problems are highlighted and discussed.