Excellent passivation and low reflectivity with atomic layer deposited bilayer coatings for n-type silicon solar cells

Lee, Benjamin G.; Li, Shuo; Gastrow, Guillaume von; Yli-Koski, Marko; Savin, Hele; Malinen, Ville; Skarp, Jarmo; Choi, Sukgeun; Branz, Howard M.

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2013.10.166

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Near‐infrared (NIR, wavelength 750–3000 nm) sensors are a subject of wide interest within various industry fields, including optical communications, [ 1 ] medical diagnostics, [ 2 ] night‐vision, [ 3 ] and spectroscopy [ 4 ] just to name a few. While silicon‐based devices are the mainstream for ultraviolet (UV) and visible‐light detection, their applicability is limited to wavelengths shorter than ≈1000 nm by the bandgap of silicon.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Pasanen

Isometsä

Garín

et al. 2020

Advanced Optical Materials

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Near‐infrared (NIR) sensors find numerous applications within various industry fields, including optical communications and medical diagnostics. However, the state‐of‐the‐art NIR sensors made of germanium (Ge) suffer from rather poor response, largely due to high reflection from the illuminated device surface. This work demonstrates a method to increase the sensitivity of Ge sensors by implementing nanostructures to the wafer surfaces. The absorbance of nanostructured Ge wafers is measured to be >99% in the whole UV–vis–NIR spectrum up to 1600 nm wavelength, which is a significant improvement to bare Ge wafers that reach absorption of only 63% in maximum. The process is shown to be capable of producing uniform nanostructures covering full 100 mm diameter substrates as well as wafers with etch mask openings of different sizes and shapes, which demonstrates its applicability to complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor manufacturing. The results imply that nanostructured Ge has potential to revolutionize the sensitivity of Ge‐based sensors.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Pasanen

Isometsä

Garín

et al. 2020

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…Al 2 O 3 layer passivation is suitable for both back-side of p-type solar cells and boron emitter of n-type solar cells. Lee et al [95] reported on a low emitter saturation current of 38 fA/cm 2 due to a stack of Al 2 O 3 / TiO 2 used as a front passivating and antireflective layers in an n-type cell configuration. Various techniques were used to deposit Al 2 O 3 film with similar passivation properties, e.g., atomic layer deposition (ALD), PECVD and APCVD.…”

Section: Front and Rear Surface Passivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging frontiers of N-Type silicon material for photovoltaic applications: The impurity-defect interactions

Aïssa¹,

Mm²,

Mi³

et al. 2015

Front Nanosci Nanotech

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Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is one of the main renewable energy sources, and crystalline silicon presently dominates completely this field. To date, the positively doped (p-type) crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers have occupied most of the solar PV market. However, cells made with n-type crystalline silicon wafers are actually more efficient. This is because the material properties offered by n-type crystalline silicon substrates are suitable for higher efficiencies. Properties such as the absence of boron-oxygen related defects and a greater tolerance to key metal impurities by n-type crystalline silicon substrates are major factors that allow these better efficiencies. This yields a better bulk minority carrier lifetime, therefore, the performance of commercial photovoltaic n-type Si devices is strongly controlled by the surface and contact quality. A well-designed solar cell processing sequence can mitigate their effects to yield high efficiency devices. We propose here a review of the properties of defects, impurities, and impurity-defect interactions that can occur during crystal growth and device processing, as well as the high-efficiency fabrication process flow allowed by the use of n-type c-Si.

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“…Szeghalmi et al used the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method to deposit the Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 multilayers on Si wafers and quartz, BK7 glass, and polycarbonate substrates for applications as bandpass filters and antireflection coatings . Lee et al also used the ALD method to deposit the bilayer coating of Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 on p-type Si, and they show that a bilayer coating of Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 can function to simultaneously provide excellent passivation and significantly reduce reflectivity . Wu et al used the liquid phase deposition method to deposit the Al 2 O 3 –TiO 2 bilayer as the antireflection coatings on polished silicon substrates .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflection of Blue Light Using Bi-Layer Al₂O₃–TiO₂ E-Beam Coating Films

Liu

Lin²,

Tzou

et al. 2018

Crystal Growth & Design

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E-beam deposition was used to deposit Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 single-layer films onto glass substrates at 300 °C, with 6 sccm O 2 being introduced during the deposition process. Optical characterization of the films was conducted to evaluate whether the thickness was suitable for the formation of multipair reflective coatings. The refractive indices of the films measured at an optical wavelength of 450 nm were 1.742 (Al 2 O 3 ) and 2.206 (TiO 2 ). E-beam deposition was then used to deposit Al 2 O 3 − TiO 2 bilayer films in one, two, four, and six periods on glass substrates to fabricate multilayer films as broadband Bragg-reflecting coatings for blue light. The thicknesses of the Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 films for the quarter wave condition were 51 and 64 nm, respectively. When one period of Al 2 O 3 −TiO 2 bilayer film was deposited on the glass substrate, the film had high transparency, and no reflective effect was observed. As two, four, and six periods were deposited on the glass substrates, the Bragg reflection effect became apparent. The reflectance ratio also increased with the number of periods. Cross-sectional observations showed that each Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 film could be deposited well on glass substrates using E-beam deposition. The thicknesses of the Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 films would have deviations to achieve an expected value, causing variations in the central frequency and bandwidth of the Bragg reflection effect for the Al 2 O 3 −TiO 2 bilayer films. We theorize as to why deviations in the films' thicknesses caused differences between (i) the theoretical and measured reflective spectra and (ii) the theoretical and measured central frequency and bandwidth values.

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Excellent passivation and low reflectivity with atomic layer deposited bilayer coatings for n-type silicon solar cells

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Emerging frontiers of N-Type silicon material for photovoltaic applications: The impurity-defect interactions

Reflection of Blue Light Using Bi-Layer Al₂O₃–TiO₂ E-Beam Coating Films

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Excellent passivation and low reflectivity with atomic layer deposited bilayer coatings for n-type silicon solar cells

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Nanostructured Germanium with >99% Absorption at 300–1600 nm Wavelengths

Emerging frontiers of N-Type silicon material for photovoltaic applications: The impurity-defect interactions

Reflection of Blue Light Using Bi-Layer Al2O3–TiO2 E-Beam Coating Films

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Reflection of Blue Light Using Bi-Layer Al₂O₃–TiO₂ E-Beam Coating Films