Applicability of an economic diode laser emitting at 980 nm for preparation of polycrystalline silicon thin film solar cells on glass

Abstract

Recently, polycrystalline silicon thin film solar cells on glass are fabricated by a laser induced liquid phase crystallization (LPC) process. This study compares a new economic diode laser, emitting a line focus at 980 nm, with the 808 nm laser normally used concerning its absorption during LPC. We measured the optical constants of amorphous silicon by spectral ellipsometry and UV/VIS spectroscopy. Together with the literature data for crystalline and liquid silicon combined with numerical temperature simulations, we calculated the absorption during LPC and the overall power needed for successful crystallization. Solar cells prepared with both laser types show comparable crystallographic and optoelectronic characteristics. Concerning the economic advantages, the use of such a 980 nm diode laser system would be the choice for the potential industrial production.Polycrystalline silicon thin film solar cells on glass are fabricated by laser-induced liquid phase crystallization. A new economic diode laser emitting a line focus at 980 nm is compared to the 808 nm laser normally used. Solar cells show comparable crystallographic and optoelectronic characteristics.

Silicon Powder-Based Wafers for Low-Cost Photovoltaics: Laser Treatments and Nanowire Etching

“…The thickness of the wafer is 170 ± 10 μm. In this work, we use a diode laser working at a wavelength of 808 nm, which is commonly used to crystallize Si thin films on glass [19]. It is possible to melt the whole piece of the pc-Si wafer fully from the front to the back side, and a substrate temperature of 600°C was used to reduce the thermal stress during the solidification.…”

Multicrystalline Silicon Thin‐Film Solar Cells Based on Vanadium Oxide Heterojunction and Laser‐Doped Contacts

“…An 80 nm silicon nitride (SiN x ) layer was deposited on the glass as barrier layer, followed by electron‐beam evaporation of phosphorus‐doped silicon (6.8 μm). Subsequently, this material was recrystallized by scanning it with a continuous‐wave diode laser at 808 nm, resulting in an n‐type multicrystalline silicon with donor density of 1.5 × 10 17 cm −3 . Based on these substrates, the solar cells were fabricated following the fabrication process shown in Figure a.…”

Experimental realization of a 12,000-finesse laser cavity based on a low-noise microstructured mirror

“…Thus, we also conducted the experiments at this wavelength. The meta-mirror consists of a structured layer of amorphous silicon [36] on a fused silica substrate, see Fig. 2 (c).…”