In this paper, we have investigated the effect of phosphorus diffusion gettering on the precipitated Cu in silicon via rapid thermal process (RTP). It is found that, for dot-like or star-like precipitates, the RTP-based phosphorus diffusion technique is efficient for gettering out the precipitated Cu. A two-step RTP gettering process is much more effective than a single-step RTP process. Furthermore, the choice of oxygen ambient can enhance the Cu gettering efficiency due to the involvement of considerable self-interstitial silicon atoms. The minority carrier lifetime of the sample subjected to RTP-based phosphorus gettering has also been verified to be significantly enhanced. These results are of interest for the gettering engineering of high-efficiency silicon solar cells. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.