scholarly journals n-i-p Nanocrystalline Hydrogenated Silicon Solar Cells with RF-Magnetron Sputtered Absorbers

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1699
Author(s):  
Dipendra Adhikari ◽  
Maxwell M. Junda ◽  
Corey R. Grice ◽  
Sylvain X. Marsillac ◽  
Robert W. Collins ◽  
...  

Nanocrystalline hydrogenated silicon (nc-Si:H) substrate configuration n-i-p solar cells have been fabricated on soda lime glass substrates with active absorber layers prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The cells with nanocrystalline PECVD absorbers and an untextured back reflector serve as a baseline for comparison and have power conversion efficiency near 6%. By comparison, cells with sputtered absorbers achieved efficiencies of about 1%. Simulations of external quantum efficiency (EQE) are compared to experimental EQE to determine a carrier collection probability gradient with depth for the device with the sputtered i-layer absorber. This incomplete collection of carriers generated in the absorber is most pronounced in material near the n/i interface and is attributed to breaking vacuum between deposition of layers for the sputtered absorbers, possible low electronic quality of the nc-Si:H sputtered absorber, and damage at the n/i interface by over-deposition of the sputtered i-layer during device fabrication.

2005 ◽  
Vol 865 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Paulson ◽  
S. H. Stephens ◽  
W. N. Shafarman

AbstractVariable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry has been used to characterize Cu(InGa)Se2 thin films as a function of relative Ga content and to study the effects of Cu off-stoichiometry. Uniform Cu(InGa)Se2 films were deposited on Mo-coated soda lime glass substrates by elemental evaporation with a wide range of relative Cu and Ga concentrations. Optical constants of Cu(InGa)Se2 were determined over the energy range of 0.75–C4.6 eV for films with 0 ≤ Ga/(In+Ga) ≤ 1 and used to determine electronic transition energies. Further, the changes in the optical constants and electronic transitions as a function of Cu off-stoichiometry were determined in Cu-In-Ga-Se films with Cu atomic concentration varying from 10 to 25 % and Ga/(In+Ga) = 0.3. Films with Cu in the range 16–24 % are expected to contain 2 phases so an effective medium approximation is used to model the data. This enables the relative volume fractions of the two phases, and hence composition, to be determined. Two distinctive features are observed in the optical spectra as the Cu concentration decreases. First, the fundamental bandgaps are shifted to higher energies. Second, the critical point features at higher energies become broader suggesting degradation of the crystalline quality of the material.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-cheng Huang ◽  
Chia-ho Huang ◽  
Mao-yong Lin ◽  
Chia-ying Chou ◽  
Chun-yao Hsu ◽  
...  

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as a back contact for CIGS-based solar cells. This paper determines the optimal settings for the sputtering parameters for an Mo thin film prepared on soda lime glass substrates, using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering, with a metal Mo target, in an argon gas environment. A Taguchi method with an L9orthogonal array, the signal-to-noise ratio, and an analysis of variances is used to determine the performance characteristics of the coating operation. The main sputtering parameters, such as working pressure (mTorr), dc power (W), and substrate temperature (°C), are optimized with respect to the structural features, surface morphology, and electrical properties of the Mo films. An adhesive tape test is performed on each film to determine the adhesion strength of the films. The experimental results show that the working pressure has the dominant effect on electrical resistivity and reflectance. The intensity of the main peak (110) for the Mo film increases and the full width at half maximum decreases gradually as the sputtering power is increased. Additionally, the application of an Mo bilayer demonstrates good adherence and low resistivity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weimin Li ◽  
Xia Yan ◽  
Armin G. Aberle ◽  
Selvaraj Venkataraj

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP) deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP) deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [110] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (06n07) ◽  
pp. 979-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAEMYUNG KIM ◽  
KWANGSOO NO

We have grown carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the soda-lime glass substrates using chemical vapor deposition of C 2 H 2 gas at 550°C. We used electro-plated Ni thin film as a catalyst and screen-printed Ag thick film as a cathode. The turn-on field was about 2.55 V /μ m with an emission current density of 10 μ A / cm 2, and electric field was about 4.0 V /μ m with an emission current density of 3 mA/cm2. Fowler-Nordheim plot shows good linear fit, indicating that the emission current of CNTs follows the Fowler-Nordheim behavior. This process is suitable for mass production of CNT field emission display(CNT-FED), because of its merits; low temperature (≤ 550° C ) process, easiness of CNT patterning, non-vacuum process, large area uniformity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigenori Furue ◽  
Shogo Ishizuka ◽  
Akimasa Yamada ◽  
Masayuki Iioka ◽  
Hirofumi Higuchi ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 520 (4) ◽  
pp. 1218-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Steinhauser ◽  
J.-F. Boucher ◽  
E. Omnes ◽  
D. Borrello ◽  
E. Vallat-Sauvain ◽  
...  

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