Effect of silicon oxide thickness on polysilicon based passivated contacts for high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

Kale, Abhijit S.; Nemeth, William; Harvey, Steven P.; Page, Matthew; Agarwal, Sumit; Stradins, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2018.05.011

Cited by 71 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Although this increase may rise q c , one can find a suitable thickness to balance q c and FLP, which has a key effect on the quantum transport. For practical tunnel oxide passivating contacts, Kale et al 29 have demonstrated that the carrier recombination parameter (J 0 ) decreases with the increasing tunnel oxide or polycrystalline silicon thickness, which is consistent with our simulation results. An optimized tunnel oxide thickness of 1.4-1.6 nm was determined to simultaneously yield low J 0 and q c .…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts

Sajjad

Yang

Altermatt³

et al. 2019

Applied Physics Letters

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Passivating metal/silicon contacts combine low carrier recombination with low contact resistivities, enabled by a low gap state density at their interface. Such contacts find applications in high-efficiency solar cells. We perform first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to investigate the surface defect and metal-induced gap state density of silicon in close contact with metals (Al and Ag). We confirm that surface hydrogenation fully removes surface-defect gap states of (111)-oriented silicon surfaces. However, the metal-induced gap state density increases significantly when metals are closer than 0.5 nm to such surfaces. These results highlight the importance of the tunneling-film thickness in achieving effective passivating-contact formation.

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supporting

confidence: 92%

Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts

Sajjad

Yang

Altermatt³

et al. 2019

Applied Physics Letters

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“…The doping profile in the poly-Si layer and at the surface of the c-Si substrate is known to play a role in the final surface passivation properties of the poly-Si/SiOx contact [17,32].…”

Section: Variation Of the Doping Profile With Increasing Annealing Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The robustness of the poly-Si layer against the subsequent implementation of a metal electrode is also an important requirement to preserve a good surface passivation of the c-Si in the final SC [15]. The passivation efficiency of the features described above (1-3) strongly depends on the fabrication process of the poly-Si/SiOx contact [8,16,17]. This implies convoluted interdependences between these different passivation features, which has, for now, prevented the clear discrimination of their respective contributions to the global surface passivation of the c-Si in the final SC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the surface passivation mechanism during the fabrication of ex-situ doped poly-Si(B)/SiOx passivating contacts for high-efficiency c-Si solar cells

Morisset

Cabal

Giglia

et al. 2021

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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Passivating the contacts of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells (SC) with a poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si) layer on top of a thin silicon oxide (SiOx) is currently sparking interest for reducing carrier recombination at the interface between the metal electrode and the c-Si substrate. However, due to the interrelation between different mechanisms at play, a comprehensive understanding of the surface passivation provided by the poly-Si/SiOx contact in the final SC has not been achieved yet. In the present work, we report on an original ex-situ doping process of the poly-Si layer through the deposition of a B-rich dielectric layer followed by an annealing step to diffuse B dopants in the layer. We propose an in-depth investigation of the passivation scheme of the resulting B-doped poly-Si/SiOx contact by first comparing the surface passivation provided by ex-situ doped and intrinsic poly-Si/SiOx contacts at different steps of the fabrication process. The excellent surface passivation properties obtained with the ex-situ doped poly-Si(B) contact (iVoc = 733 mV and J0 = 6.1 fA cm -2 ) attests to the good quality of this contact. We then propose further STEM, ECV and ToF-SIMS characterizations to assess: i) the evolution of the microstructure and

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“…• The shallow in-diffusion of dopants from the poly-Si layer to the c-Si substrate, which enhances the field-effect passivation at the c-Si surface [44,45] • The degradation of the interfacial SiOx layer which decreases the chemical passivation properties (interface state density (Dit) increase) [17,46,47] The poly-Si(B)/SiOx samples were first fabricated on mirror polished c-Si wafers. The a-Si:H(B) layer was deposited with optimized deposition conditions (Tdep = 300°C and R = 50).…”

Section: Impact Of Annealing Temperature On Surface Passivation Propementioning

confidence: 99%

Highly passivating and blister-free hole selective poly-silicon based contact for large area crystalline silicon solar cells

Morisset

Cabal

Grange

et al. 2019

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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• Blister-free boron-doped poly-Si layers are obtained by PECVD through optimization of the deposition temperature and gas ratio. • The process developed is approaching the industrial standards (large area KOH-polished wafers, SiOx growth included in standard RCA cleaning, semi-industrial PECVD tool). • High and homogeneous surface passivation properties are obtained (iVoc = 734 mV and J0 = 7 fA•cm-2). • Conductive spots detected by C-AFM are not mirroring pinholes within the interfacial SiOx layer.

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Effect of silicon oxide thickness on polysilicon based passivated contacts for high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

Cited by 71 publications

References 27 publications

Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts

Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts

Evolution of the surface passivation mechanism during the fabrication of ex-situ doped poly-Si(B)/SiOx passivating contacts for high-efficiency c-Si solar cells

Highly passivating and blister-free hole selective poly-silicon based contact for large area crystalline silicon solar cells

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