To demonstrate the thermal stability of titanium nitride as a high-temperature diffusion barrier, the TiN-Ti-Ag metallization scheme has been tested on shallow-junction (∼2000 Å) Si solar cells. Electrical measurements on reference samples with the Ti-Ag metallization scheme show serious degradation after a 600 °C, 10-min annealing. With the TiN-Ti-Ag scheme, no degradation of cell performance is observed after the same heat treatment if the TiN layer is ≳1700 Å. The glass encapsulation of cells by electrostatic bonding requires such a heat treatment.
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