1. A method of producing silicon, comprising:
(a) providing gaseous trichlorosilane,
(b) reacting the gaseous trichlorosilane with hydrogen in the presence of a substrate at a temperature to cause the deposition of silicon onto the substrate and the production of silicon tetrachloride by-product,
(c) vaporizing the silicon tetrachloride by-product to form gaseous silicon tetrachloride,
(d) directly converting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride to finely divided silicon having an average primary particle size of about 200 nm or less and an average agglomerate size of about 500 \u03bcm or more,
(e) forming a silicon melt by melting the finely divided silicon, and
(f) forming solid silicon from the silicon melt.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the silicon deposited on the substrate comprises no more than 1 ppm of each metallic impurity, no more than 40 ppm carbon, no more than 50 ppm oxygen, no more than 3 ppm boron, and no more than 1 ppm phosphorus.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the solid silicon formed from the silicon melt comprises no more than 1 ppm of each metallic impurity, no more than 40 ppm carbon, no more than 50 ppm oxygen, no more than 3 ppm boron, and no more than 1 ppm phosphorus.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the finely divided silicon comprises no more than 1 ppm of each metallic impurity, no more than 40 ppm carbon, no more than 50 ppm oxygen, no more than 3 ppm boron, and no more than 1 ppm phosphorus.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the silicon deposited on the substrate, the silicon formed from the silicon melt, andor the finely divided silicon comprises no more than 0.1 ppm of each metallic impurity, no more than 4 ppm carbon, no more than 5 ppm oxygen, no more than 0.3 ppm boron, and no more than 0.1 ppm phosphorus.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the trichlorosilane comprises no more than 10 ppm per metallic impurity, 400 ppm carbon, 500 ppm oxygen, 30 ppm boron, and 10 ppm phosphorus.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the trichlorosilane comprises no more than 1 ppm per metallic impurity, 40 ppm carbon, 50 ppm oxygen, 3 ppm boron, and 1 ppm phosphorus.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature at which the gaseous trichlorosilane is reacted with hydrogen is about 1050\xb0 C. to about 1250\xb0 C.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises isolating the deposited silicon from the substrate.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is either (1) silicon supported on a carrier material or (2) graphite.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the carrier material is removed with an oxidizing agent.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises melting the deposited silicon obtained in step (b).
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises forming solid silicon from the melted deposited silicon obtained in step (b).
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the melted deposited silicon is combined with the silicon melt of step (e).
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction of gaseous trichlorosilane with hydrogen produces gaseous hydrogen chloride by-product.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the gaseous hydrogen chloride by-product is added to metallurgical grade silicon to produce trichlorosilane.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises:
(d1) converting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride to silicon particles having an average primary particle size of about 200 nm or less and an average agglomerate size of about 500 \u03bcm or less, and
(d2) converting the silicon particles obtained in step (d1) to finely divided silicon having an average primary particle size of about 200 nm or less and an average agglomerate size of about 500 \u03bcm or more.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d2) comprises repeating step (d1) with the addition of the silicon particles obtained in a prior step (d1).
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the finely divided silicon is densified prior to forming a silicon melt.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein directly converting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride comprises thermally decomposing the gaseous silicon tetrachloride, optionally in the presence of an inert diluent, in the presence of zero to 100 ppm by weight oxygen.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein directly converting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride comprises reacting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride in the presence of a reducing agent in the presence of zero to 100 ppm by weight oxygen.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the densification of the finely divided silicon comprises forming the finely divided silicon into pellets.
23. The method of claim 20, wherein the thermal decomposition of gaseous silicon tetrachloride produces gaseous chlorine by-product.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the gaseous chlorine by-product is reacted with hydrogen to produce hydrogen chloride.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the hydrogen chloride produced from the gaseous chlorine by-product is added to silicon to produce trichlorosilane.
26. The method of claim 20, wherein the thermal decomposition of the gaseous silicon tetrachloride takes place in a reaction chamber into which is injected gaseous sodium chloride.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the gaseous sodium chloride condenses and encapsulates the silicon to form sodium chloride-encapsulated silicon particles.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein silicon is separated from the sodium chloride.
29. The method of claim 21, wherein the reducing agent is a vaporized alkali metal.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the alkali metal is sodium.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the reaction of the silicon tetrachloride by-product with sodium produces gaseous sodium chloride.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the gaseous sodium chloride condenses and encapsulates the silicon to form sodium chloride-encapsulated silicon particles.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein silicon is separated from the sodium chloride.
34. The method of claim 20, wherein unreacted gaseous silicon tetrachloride is removed from the thermal decomposition reaction.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein the removed unreacted gaseous silicon tetrachloride is purified and utilized as feedstock for the step of converting the gaseous silicon tetrachloride by thermally decomposing the gaseous silicon tetrachloride, optionally in the presence of an inert diluent, in the presence of zero to 100 ppm by weight oxygen.
36. The method of claim 20, wherein the direct conversion of the gaseous silicon tetrachloride is quenched by contact with an inert gas or hydrogen or by expansion of gaseous reagents through a nozzle.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method executed on a computing device to provide invocation control over a keyboard user interface (UI), the method comprising:
displaying a keyboard UI overlaid on an application UI to allow an interaction with the application UI;
displaying a dismissal UI adjacent to the keyboard UI to allow a dismissal of the keyboard UI;
in response to detecting a first user action on the dismissal UI, dismissing the keyboard UI;
presenting a lock UI and an invocation UI adjacent to the lock UI; and
in response to detecting a second user action on the lock UI,
preventing an invocation of the keyboard UI,
dismissing the lock UI and the invocation UI, and
displaying an invocation indicator and an unlock UI adjacent to the invocation indicator.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
placing the dismissal UI adjacent to a top edge of the keyboard UI; and
placing a right edge of the dismissal UI in line with a right edge of the keyboard UI.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
executing an operation including at least one from a set of: hiding the keyboard UI, deactivating the keyboard UI, and removing the keyboard UI to dismiss the keyboard UI.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
placing the keyboard UI in an unlocked state to allow the invocation of the keyboard UI subsequent to dismissing the keyboard UI.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
invoking the keyboard UI in response to detecting another user action in an area of the application UI configured for text editing.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
invoking the keyboard UI in response to detecting another user action on the invocation UI including at least one from a set of: a tap action and an upward swipe action.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
changing an unlocked status of the keyboard UI to a locked status to prevent the user from invoking the keyboard UI in at least one from a set of: the application UI and a desktop UI.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
sliding the lock UI in a lateral direction in response to a swipe action as the second user action; and
sliding the lock UI back to an original position in response to activation of the lock UI.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
displaying a graphic alerting about a locked status of the keyboard UI within the invocation indicator.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
unlocking the keyboard UI in response to detecting another user action on the unlock UI.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
displaying the invocation UI and the lock UI in response to unlocking the keyboard UI.
12. A computing device to provide invocation control over a keyboard user interface (UI), the computing device comprising:
a memory;
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing an application in conjunction with instructions stored in the memory, wherein the application is configured to:
display a keyboard UI overlaid on an application UI to allow an interaction with the application UI;
display a dismissal UI adjacent to the keyboard UI to allow a dismissal of the keyboard UI;
in response to detecting a first user action on the dismissal UI, dismiss the keyboard UI;
present a lock UI and an invocation UI adjacent to the lock UI in proximity to a bottom corner of a display application UI; and
in response to detecting a second user action on the lock UI,
prevent an invocation of the keyboard UI,
dismiss the lock UI and the invocation UI, and
display an invocation indicator and an unlock UI adjacent to the invocation indicator in proximity to the bottom corner of the display application UI.
13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the application is further configured to:
detect a predetermined number of consequent activations of the dismissal UI; and
provide a notification describing the lock UI and the unlock UI to enable an activation of the lock UI and the unlock UI.
14. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the application is further configured to:
disable the dismissal UI, the invocation UI, the lock UI, and the unlock UI in response to detecting at least one from a set of:
that the computing device displaying the application UI is no longer touch enabled;
an attachment of an input device and a movement of the input device; and
a read-only content displayed on the application UI.
15. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the application is further configured to:
display a button control in place of the dismissal UI, the invocation UI, the lock UI, and the unlock UI; and
change a graphic associated with the button control to reflect one from a set of: an unlocked status and a locked status of the keyboard UI.
16. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the application is further configured to:
swap a location of the lock UI and the invocation UI; and
swap another location of the invocation indicator and the unlock UI.
17. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the application is further configured to:
provide control of the dismissal UI, the invocation UI, the lock UI, and the unlock UI through an application user interface (API).
18. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon to provide invocation control over a keyboard user interface (UI), the instructions comprising:
displaying a keyboard UI overlaid on an application UI to allow an interaction with the application UI;
displaying a dismissal UI adjacent to the keyboard UI to allow a dismissal of the keyboard UI;
in response to detecting a first user action on the dismissal UI, dismissing the keyboard UI;
presenting a lock UI and an invocation UI adjacent to the lock UI in proximity to a predefined location on the application UI; and
in response to detecting a second user action on the lock UI,
preventing an invocation of the keyboard UI,
dismissing the lock UI and the invocation UI, and
displaying an invocation indicator and an unlock UI adjacent to the invocation indicator in proximity to the predefined location on the application UI;
providing control of the dismissal UI, the invocation UI, the lock UI, and the unlock UI through an application programming interface (API).
19. The computer-readable memory device of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:
placing the keyboard UI in an unlocked state to allow an invocation of the keyboard UI subsequent to dismissing the keyboard UI; and
invoking the keyboard UI in response to detecting another user action in an area of the application UI configured to edit text.
20. The computer-readable memory device of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:
placing the keyboard UI in an unlocked state to allow an invocation of the keyboard UI subsequent to dismissing the keyboard UI; and
invoking the keyboard UI in response to detecting another user action on the invocation UI including at least one from a set of: a tap action and an upward swipe action.