Doping of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films deposited at low substrate temperatures by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Alpuim, P.; Chu, V.; Conde, J.P.

doi:10.1116/1.1385910

Cited by 35 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…The deposition parameters are a pressure of 500 mTorr, an absorbed power of 103 mW/cm 2 , and a hydrogen dilution ratio of [17]. With other deposition parameters fixed, higher electrical conductivities are obtained when the film is deposited at 80 MHz excitation frequency than at 13.56 MHz frequency.…”

Section: Deposition Of Nanocrystalline Silicon Filmsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Evolution of nanocrystalline silicon thin film transistor channel layers

Cheng

Allen

Wagner

2004

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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Section: Deposition Of Nanocrystalline Silicon Filmsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Evolution of nanocrystalline silicon thin film transistor channel layers

Cheng

Allen

Wagner

2004

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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“…Highly crystalline silicon thin films can accommodate a larger number of electrically active dopant atoms, compared to purely amorphous ones, as also evidenced by their higher conductivity (see for instance 52 and Supplementary Table 1). For this, we explored deposition conditions similar to those fostering nanocrystalline silicon thin-film growth [53][54][55] and silicon epitaxy 56 , hence characterized by a considerably lower silane concentration in the deposition plasma than conventional doped a-Si:H layers.…”

Section: Requirements For E Cient Tunnel-ibc Solar Cellsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Simple processing of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells using selective-area crystalline growth

et al. 2017

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For crystalline-silicon solar cells, voltages close to the theoretical limit are nowadays readily achievable when using passivating contacts. Conversely, maximal current generation requires the integration of the electron and hole contacts at the back of the solar cell to liberate its front from any shadowing loss. Recently, the world-record e ciency for crystalline-silicon singlejunction solar cells was achieved by merging these two approaches in a single device; however, the complexity of fabricating this class of devices raises concerns about their commercial potential. Here we show a contacting method that substantially simplifies the architecture and fabrication of back-contacted silicon solar cells. We exploit the surface-dependent growth of silicon thin films, deposited by plasma processes, to eliminate the patterning of one of the doped carrier-collecting layers. Then, using only one alignment step for electrode definition, we fabricate a proof-of-concept 9-cm 2 tunnel-interdigitated backcontact solar cell with a certified conversion e ciency >22.5%. I n recent decades, the market of photovoltaics has been consistently growing and the yearly installed photovoltaic capacity has increased from 328 MW peak in 2001 to 50 GW peak in 2015. This resulted in 2016 in a cumulative capacity of 235 GW peak (ref. 1), largely based on crystalline-silicon (c-Si) solar-cell technologies 2 , and contributing to about 1.3% of the global electricity production 3 . To further increase this number, the cost-competitiveness of photovoltaics must surpass that of classic, non-renewable energy sources, and one route towards this goal is to raise the conversion efficiency of industrial c-Si solar cells 4,5 .High power conversion efficiencies require maximizing the solar-cell electrical parameters: open-circuit voltage (V oc ), fillfactor (FF) and short-circuit current density (J sc ). For the V oc and FF, this is possible by using passivating contacts, employing silicon oxide or hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films to minimize charge carrier recombination at the electrical contacts to the c-Si wafer, with demonstrated record efficiencies for two-sidecontacted solar cells of 25.1% (refs 6,7). Maximum J sc values can be achieved using a back-contacted architecture, eliminating front metal electrode shadowing and minimizing optical reflection and absorption losses at the front. Small-sized back-contacted solar cells, based on diffused silicon homo-junctions, were realized at several research institutes (refs 8-11), showing a best conversion efficiency up to 24.4% (ref. 12). Industrially, the back-contacted architecture was pioneered by Sunpower, recently reporting on large-area devices with very high J sc values and efficiencies surpassing 25% (ref. 13). Considering these achievements, integrating passivating contacts in a back-contacted architecture is the obvious c-Si single-junction solar-cell design towards highest conversion efficiencies. Such an approach has increasingly been researched in both academia and indust...

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“…A particularly interesting low‐temperature (<200 °C) approach lies in using hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc‐Si:H), deposited by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) employing silane gas with high hydrogen dilution . By adding either trimethylboron or phosphine to the silane/hydrogen mixture in the reactor, highly doped nc‐Si:H can be obtained, which is required for recombination junctions exhibiting low resistance and narrow‐potential energy barrier widths. Such nc‐Si:H layers have recently been used for high‐efficiency SHJ solar cells in both‐sides‐contacted and back‐contacted configurations …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Optics in Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells with a Nanocrystalline Silicon Recombination Junction

Sahli

Kamino

Werner

et al. 2017

Advanced Energy Materials

224

264

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Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are increasingly recognized as promising candidates for next‐generation photovoltaics with performance beyond the single‐junction limit at potentially low production costs. Current designs for monolithic tandems rely on transparent conductive oxides as an intermediate recombination layer, which lead to optical losses and reduced shunt resistance. An improved recombination junction based on nanocrystalline silicon layers to mitigate these losses is demonstrated. When employed in monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells with a planar front side, this junction is found to increase the bottom cell photocurrent by more than 1 mA cm−2. In combination with a cesium‐based perovskite top cell, this leads to tandem cell power‐conversion efficiencies of up to 22.7% obtained from J–V measurements and steady‐state efficiencies of up to 22.0% during maximum power point tracking. Thanks to its low lateral conductivity, the nanocrystalline silicon recombination junction enables upscaling of monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells, resulting in a 12.96 cm2 monolithic tandem cell with a steady‐state efficiency of 18%.

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Doping of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films deposited at low substrate temperatures by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Cited by 35 publications

References 28 publications

Evolution of nanocrystalline silicon thin film transistor channel layers

Evolution of nanocrystalline silicon thin film transistor channel layers

Simple processing of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells using selective-area crystalline growth

Improved Optics in Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells with a Nanocrystalline Silicon Recombination Junction

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