Materials Optimization for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

2007 ◽  
Vol 989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Levi ◽  
Eugene Iwanizcko ◽  
Steve Johnston ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Howard M Branz
Keyword(s):  
Activation Energy ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Substrate Temperature ◽  
Temperature Dependence ◽  
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry ◽  
Surface Passivation ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Silicon Substrates

AbstractOur research team has used hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) to fabricate silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells on p-type FZ silicon substrates with efficiencies as high as 18.2%. The best cells are deposited on anisotropically-textured (100) silicon substrates where an etching process creates pyramidal facets with (111) crystal faces. Texturing increases Jsc through enhanced light trapping, yet our highest Voc devices are deposited on un-textured (100) substrates. One of the key factors in maximizing the efficiency of our SHJ devices is the process of optimization of the material properties of the 3 - 5 nm thick hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers used to create the junction and back contact in these cells. Such optimization is technically challenging because of the difficulty in measuring the properties of extremely thin layers. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the properties of such amorphous layers are substrate- and thickness-dependent. In this study, we have utilized spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and photoconductivity decay to conclude that a-Si:H films grown on (111) substrates are substantially similar to films grown on (100) substrates. In addition, analysis of the substrate temperature dependence of surface roughness evolution reveals a substrate-independent mechanism of surface smoothening with an activation energy of 0.28 eV. Analysis of the substrate temperature dependence of surface passivation reveals a passivation mechanism with an activation energy of 0.63 eV.

Thin Film a-Si/poly-Si Multibandgap Tandem Solar Cells With Both Absorber Layers Deposited by Hot Wire Cvd

2001 ◽  
Vol 664 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.E.I. Schropp ◽  
C.H.M. Van Der Werf ◽  
M.K. Van Veen ◽  
P.A.T.T. Van Veenendaal ◽  
R. Jimenez Zambrano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Substrate Temperature ◽  
Band Gap ◽  
Steel Substrate ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Hot Wire ◽  
Tandem Solar Cells ◽  
Hydrogen Dilution ◽  
P Type

ABSTRACTThe first competitive a-Si/poly-Si multibandgap tandem cells have been made in which the two intrinsic absorber layers are deposited by Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HWCVD). These cells consist of two stacked n-i-p type solar cells on a plain stainless steel substrate using plasma deposited n- and p-type doped layers and Hot-Wire deposited intrinsic (i) layers, where the i-layer is either amorphous (band gap 1.8 eV) or polycrystalline (band gap 1.1 eV). In this tandem configuration, all doped layers are microcrystalline and the two intrinsic layers are made by decomposing mixtures of silane and hydrogen at hot filaments in the vicinity of the substrate. For the two layers we used individually optimized parameters, such as gas pressure, hydrogen dilution ratio, substrate temperature, filament temperature, and filament material. The solar cells do not comprise an enhanced back reflector, but feature a natural mechanism for light trapping, due to the texture of the (220) oriented poly-Si absorber layer and the fact that all subsequent layers are deposited conformally. The deposition rate for the throughput limiting step, the poly-Si i-layer, is ≍ 5-6 Å/s. This layer also determines the highest substrate temperature required during the preparation of these tandem cells (500 °C). The initial efficiency obtained for these tandem cells is 8.1 %. The total thickness of the silicon nip/nip structure is only 1.1 µm.

Measurement of The Activation Energy in Phosphorous Doped Polycrystalline Diamond Thin Films Grown on Silicon Substrates by Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition

1996 ◽  
Vol 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mirzakuchaki ◽  
H. Golestanian ◽  
E. J. Charlson ◽  
T. Stacy
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Activation Energy ◽  
Chemical Vapor Deposition ◽  
Vapor Deposition ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Polycrystalline Diamond ◽  
Silicon Substrates ◽  
Boron Doped Diamond ◽  
Diamond Thin Films ◽  
Hot Filament

AbstractAlthough many researchers have studied boron-doped diamond thin films in the past several years, there have been few reports on the effects of doping CVD-grown diamond films with phosphorous. For this work, polycrystalline diamond thin films were grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) on p-type silicon substrates. Phosphorous was introduced into the reaction chamber as an in situ dopant during the growth. The quality and orientation of the diamond thin films were monitored by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Current-voltage (I-V) data as a function of temperature for golddiamond film-silicon-aluminum structures were measured. The activation energy of the phosphorous dopants was calculated to be approximately 0.29 eV.

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE BORON-DOPED MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON FILMS FOR APPLICATION IN SOLAR CELLS

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 303-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
QING-SONG LEI ◽  
ZHI-MENG WU ◽  
JIAN-PING XI ◽  
XIN-HUA GENG ◽  
YING ZHAO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Substrate Temperature ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Dark Conductivity ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Boron Doped ◽  
Deposition Processes ◽  
P Type

We have examined the deposition of highly conductive boron-doped microcrystalline silicon (μc- Si:H ) films for application in solar cells. Depositions were conducted in a very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF PECVD) chamber. In the deposition processes, various substrate temperatures (TS) were applied. Highly conductive p-type microcrystalline silicon films were obtained at substrate temperature lower than 210°C. The factors that affect the conductivity of the films were investigated. Results suggest that the dark conductivity, which was determined by the Hall mobility and carrier concentration, is influenced by the structure. The properties of the films are strongly dependent on the substrate temperature. With TS increasing, the dark conductivity (σd) increases initially; reach the maximum values at certain TS and then decrease. Also, we applied the boron-doped μc- Si:H as p-layers to the solar cells. An efficiency of about 8.5% for a solar cell with μc- Si:H p-layer was obtained.

Wet Chemical Oxidation of Silicon Surfaces Prior to the Deposition of All-PECVD AlOx/a-SiNx Passivation Stacks for Silicon Solar Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 310-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelazize Laades ◽  
Heike Angermann ◽  
Hans Peter Sperlich ◽  
Uta Stürzebecher ◽  
Carlos Alberto Díaz Álvarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Surface Passivation ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Chemical Oxidation ◽  
Silicon Surfaces ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Rear Side ◽  
Type Silicon ◽  
Wet Chemical ◽  
P Type

Aluminum oxide (AlOx) is currently under intensive investigation for use in surface passivation schemes in solar cells. AlOx films contain negative charges and therefore generate an accumulation layer on p-type silicon surfaces, which is very favorable for the rear side of p-type silicon solar cells as well as the p+-emitter at the front side of n-type silicon solar cells. However, it has been reported that quality of an interfacial silicon sub-oxide layer (SiOx), which is usually observed during deposition of AlOx on Silicon, strongly impacts the silicon/AlOx interface passivation properties [1]. The present work demonstrates that a convenient way to control the interface is to form thin wet chemical oxides of high quality prior to the deposition of AlOx/a-SiNx:H stacks by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).

Materials and Interface Optimization of Heterojunction Silicon (HIT) Solar Cells Using in-situ Real-Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

2004 ◽  
Vol 808 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.H. Levi ◽  
C.W. Teplin ◽  
E. Iwaniczko ◽  
R.K. Ahrenkiel ◽  
H.M. Branz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Surface Recombination ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Energy Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Analysis Tool

ABSTRACTWe have applied real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) as both an in-situ diagnostic and post-growth analysis tool for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cells grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition. RTSE enables precise thickness control of the 5 to 25 nm layers used in these devices, as well as monitoring crystallinity and surface roughness in real time. Utilizing RTSE feedback, but without extensive optimization, we have achieved a photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency of 14.1% on an Al-backed p-type Czochralski c-Si wafer coated with thin i and n layers on the front. Open-circuit voltages above 620 mV indicate effective passivation of the c-Si surface by the a-Si:H intrinsic layer. Lifetime measurements using resonant coupled photoconductive decay indicate that surface recombination velocities can approach 1 cm/s. RTSE and transmission electron microscopy show that the intrinsic a-Si:H i-layers grow as a mixture of amorphous and nano-crystalline silicon.

Alternative simple method to realize p-type BaSi2 thin films for Si heterojunction solar cell applications

MRS Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (25) ◽  
pp. 1435-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuma Takahashi ◽  
Yoshihiko Nakagawa ◽  
Kosuke O. Hara ◽  
Isao Takahashi ◽  
Yasuyoshi Kurokawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Substrate Temperature ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Hole Density ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Heterojunction Solar Cells ◽  
P Type ◽  
Post Deposition

Abstract:A novel preparation method of B-doped p-type BaSi2 (p-BaSi2) is proposed to realize heterojunction crystalline Si solar cells with p-BaSi2. The method consists of thermal evaporation of BaSi2 on B-doped amorphous Si (a-Si). In this study, the effect of a-Si interlayers and substrate temperature during BaSi2 evaporation on the electrical characteristics and crystalline quality of the evaporated films were investigated. While no cracks were found in the BaSi2 films formed using hydrogenated a-Si deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the films formed with sputtered a-Si have cracks. In addition, BaSi2 films formed with a 600 °C substrate temperature using PECVD a-Si showed p-type characteristics. After a post-deposition anneal at 800 °C for 5 minutes, the film hole density was measured at 1.3×1019 cm-3 and boron was found to be uniformly distributed throughout the film. These results show that the proposed method using PECVD is promising to obtain p-BaSi2 thin films with high hole density for p-BaSi2/n-type crystalline Si heterojunction solar cells.

Trade-offs of the opto-electrical properties of a-Si:H solar cells based on MOCVD BZO films

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 459-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze Chen ◽  
Xiao-dan Zhang ◽  
Jun-hui Liang ◽  
Jia Fang ◽  
Xue-jiao Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Vapor Deposition ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Organic Chemical ◽  
Boron Doped ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Metal Organic ◽  
Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

Boron-doped zinc oxide (BZO) films, deposited by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), have been widely used as front electrodes in thin-film solar cells due to their native pyramidal surface structure, which results in efficient light trapping.

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