Al-enhanced PECVD SiNx induced hydrogen passivation in string ribbon silicon

Concentration and penetration depth of H introduced into crystalline Si by hydrogenation methods used to fabricate solar cells

“…Al films, approximately 2 m in thickness, were evaporated onto the back sides of a few samples to investigate whether cofiring an Al back contact improves the effectiveness of the hydrogenation as has been previously suggested. 6,15 A few samples were also hydrogenated with a microwave-induced remote hydrogen plasma. 38 In this case, a flow of H 2 was passed through a cavity, and a microwave generator ͑2.45 GHz, 75 W͒ was used to excite the plasma.…”

“…17, 18, 20, and 24͒ and for cofiring the SiN x antireflection coating along with an Al back-contact layer. 6,7,15,24 In the present experiments, we have examined these strategies to test how they affect the concentration of H that is introduced into the Si bulk. A collection of spectra measured for samples processed in different ways is shown in Fig.…”

Influence of the high-temperature “firing” step on high-rate plasma deposited silicon nitride films used as bulk passivating antireflection coatings on silicon solar cells

“…A number of studies have been devoted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of surface and bulk passivation of Si solar cells as induced by a-SiN x :H. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Bulk passivation can be achieved by a short high-temperature step, the socalled firing process, which is used for the application of screen-printed metallization of a-SiN x :H coated mc-Si solar cells. During this firing process, defect passivation in Si is obtained by hydrogen species that are released from the a-SiN x :H film and that diffuse into Si.…”

Hydrogenation of Si from SiNx(H) films: Characterization of H introduced into the Si

“…Therefore, changes in the H concentration that result from differences in processing methods can have a pronounced effect. Experiments are currently underway to investigate the synergistic effect that cofiring the SiN x antireflection coating and Al backcontact layers has on the improvement of the minority carrier lifetime of solar cells, 8,20 and whether this processing synergy might result from the introduction of a greater H concentration into the solar cell.…”