The influence of a rapid thermal treatment on multicrystalline silicon produced by ElectroMagnetic Casting process (Emix(R) and Sitix(R)) and by directional solidification (Polix(R)), are investigated and compared in this paper, We have studied bifacial diffusion of phosphorus in this multicrystalline silicon and its gettering effect on the minority carrier lifetime measured by the photoconductivity decay technique. The diffusion is carried out by using a tungsten lamps furnace (rapid thermal processing (RTP)). This study shows an important lifetime improvement of multicrystalline silicon material produced by cold crucible casting compared to directional solidification. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.