High-Rate Deposition of Intrinsic a-Si:H and μc-Si:H Layers for Thin‑Film Silicon Solar Cells using a Dynamic Deposition Process

Zimmermann, T.; Flikweert, A.J.; Merdzhanova, Tsvetelina; Woerdenweber, J.; Gordijn, A.; Dybek, K.; Stahr, F.; Bartha, Johann W.

doi:10.1557/opl.2012.833

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The specific gas distribution system we chose alters the gas composition along the width of the electrode. 10 As a result, static c-Si:H deposition processes tend to exhibit some inhomogeneity in gas flow direction (see Figure 2).…”

Section: 1117/21201305004856 Page 2/3mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic deposition of microcrystalline silicon

Zimmermann¹,

Merdzhanova²,

Gordijn³

et al. 2013

SPIE Newsroom

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Combining linear plasma sources and high-frequency plasma deposition on moving substrates may reduce manufacturing costs for thin-film silicon solar cells. The first solar cells made of microcrystalline silicon (c-Si:H) were successfully deposited in 1994. 1 Since then, single-junction p-in solar cells made with this particular material have achieved efficiencies of greater than 10%. 2 To compete with other photovoltaic technologies, however, the microcrystalline silicon cell is often combined with an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) cell in an a-Si:H/ c-Si:H tandem junction device. This improves the conversion efficiency of the cell, and therefore the voltage of the device, compared with single-junction solar cells. Amorphous and microcrystalline silicon layers are typically deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The c-Si:H absorber layer represents about 80% of the total silicon layer thickness of an a-Si:H/ c-Si:H tandem solar cell. As a result, its deposition rate has a significant influence on the throughput of the PECVD equipment and the manufacturing costs. Therefore, research into thin-film silicon growth aims to achieve high deposition rates for c-Si:H. Developers have found that microcrystalline silicon solar cells deposited by radio-frequency (RF) and very-high frequency (VHF) PECVD processes both obtain efficiencies of about 9-10%. However, RF-PECVD processes are carried out at deposition rates of 0.5nm/s to maintain good material quality. 3 In contrast, VHF-PECVD processes can be conducted at deposition rates up to about 2.5nm/s with little influence on the solar cell performance. 4 While very high frequencies are beneficial for the quality of c-Si:H grown at high rates, they have a negative influence on the homogeneity of the deposition process when using large/industrial-scale electrodes. Developers have proposed various solutions to this problem, 5-7 all of them targeting static deposition processes, where the substrate remains stationary in front of the electrode during deposition.

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Section: 1117/21201305004856 Page 2/3mentioning

confidence: 99%