Hot-wire chemical vapor-deposited microcrystalline silicon in single and tandem n–i–p solar cells

Stolk, R.L.; Li, H.; Franken, R.H.; Strengers, J.J.H.; Werf, C.H.M. van der; Rath, J.K.; Schropp, R.E.I.

doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2005.11.134

Cited by 18 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The silicon layers were deposited in a multi-chamber ultra-high vacuum system called PASTA [11]. Doped layers (boron and phosphorus doped nc-Si:H) and intrinsic proto-SiGe:H [12] were prepared using 13.56 MHz PECVD [13], whereas HWCVD was applied to fabricate intrinsic proto-Si:H [4] and ncSi:H [5,9,10,14]. Two straight Ta filaments were used for the hot-wire deposition, through which a current of 10.5 A was passed, yielding a wire temperature of approximately 1850°C in vacuum, as measured by a pyrometer.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hot-wire chemical deposition (HWCVD) has been proved to be able to prepare high quality intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) [1][2][3], proto-crystalline silicon (proto-Si:H) [4], nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) (also called microcrystalline silicon lc-Si:H) [5,6], polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si:H) [7] (also called high-crystallinity lc-Si:H) and amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) [8] materials that are suitable for use as the active layers in silicon based thin film solar cells. Compared to conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), HWCVD has the property that the process is independent of electromagnetic properties of the substrate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is considered to be a good alternative to conventional PECVD. At Utrecht University, we have been concentrating on developing thin film silicon based multijunction solar cells employing active layers made with HWCVD [5,9,10]. In this contribution, we summarize the major scientific challenges and achievements that we have experienced during the development of such devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the development of single and multijunction solar cells with hot-wire CVD deposited active layers

Franken

Stolk

et al. 2008

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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We present an overview of the scientific challenges and achievements during the development of thin film silicon based single and multijunction solar cells with hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) of the active silicon layers. The highlights discussed include the development of Ag/ZnO coatings with a proper roughness and morphology for optimal light trapping in single and multijunction thin film silicon solar cells, studies of the structural defects created by a rough substrate surface and their influence on the performance of nc-Si:H n-i-p single junction solar cells, and studies of the phase change during the growth of nc-Si:H by HWCVD and the use of a 'reverse' H 2 profiling technique to achieve nc-Si:H single junction n-i-p cells with high performance. Thus far, the best AM1.5 efficiency reached for n-i-p cells on stainless-steel with HWCVD i-layers is 8.6% for single junction nc-Si:H solar cells and 10.9% for triple junction solar cells. The opportunities for further improvement of cell efficiency are also discussed. We conclude that the uniqueness of HWCVD and of the i-layers deposited with this technique require some adjustments in the strategy for optimization of single or multijunction solar cells, such as using a reverse H 2 profiling technique for the deposition of nc-Si:H i-layers. However, the output performance of solar cells with HWCVD deposited i-layers is close to those with i-layers deposited by other techniques. The difference between the best nc-Si:H ni-p cells obtained so far in our lab and the reported best n-i-p cells with PECVD i-layers can be mainly attributed to the differences in the rough substrates and to the use of rather thin i-layers.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the development of single and multijunction solar cells with hot-wire CVD deposited active layers

Franken

Stolk

et al. 2008

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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“…Details of the cell structures can be found in previous publications [23,26,27]. Doped layers and intrinsic proto-SiGe:H [27,28] were prepared using 13.56 MHz PECVD, whereas HWCVD was applied to fabricate intrinsic protoSi:H [22] and nc-Si:H [24,29].…”

Section: Preparation Of the Layers And Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition: Recent Progress, Present State of the Art and Competitive Opportunities

Schropp

2009

ECS Trans.

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Hot Wire CVD (also called Catalytic CVD or initiated CVD) is an elegant low pressure deposition technique for the deposition of functional films, both inorganic and organic, based on the decomposition of precursor sources at a heated metallic surface. The conformal deposition of thin films on rigid substrates or flexible foil substrates, whether in-line or batch type, is very straightforward, since it is plasma-free (i.e. without the risk of a damaging bombardment of energetic ions) and it is easily scalable. An increasing variety of thin film materials can be obtained with this method, with good feedstock gas utilization and high deposition rate. Progress has been made in establishing stable and reproducible conditions for the hot catalytic wires used for efficient decomposition of the source gases. In this paper we discuss some of the current research issues in this field.

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“…Specifically, We have developed HWCVD intrinsic protocrystalline silicon (proto-Si:H), which is characterized by an enhanced medium range structural order and a higher stability against light-soaking [11] compared to amorphous silicon, and nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H), with a low density of states [12] at a Raman crystalline ratio of ∼40%. These materials were successfully applied in thin film solar cells on plain stainless steel [13,14]. To enhance the efficiency, multiband-gap structures are required [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructured thin films for multibandgap silicon triple junction solar cells

Schropp

Franken

et al. 2009

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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By implementing nanostructure in multiband-gap proto-Si/proto-SiGe/nc-Si:H triple junction n-i-p solar cells, a considerable improvement in performance has been achieved. The unalloyed active layers in the top and bottom cell of these triple junction cells are deposited by Hot-Wire CVD. A significant current enhancement is obtained by using textured Ag/ZnO back contacts instead of plain stainless steel. We studied the correlation between the integrated current density in the long-wavelength range (650-1000 nm) with the back reflector surface roughness and clarified that the rms roughness from 2D AFM images correlates well with the long-wavelength response of the cell when weighted with a Power Spectral Density function. For single junction 2-μm thick nc-Si:H n-i-p cells we improved the J sc from 15.2 mA/cm 2 for plain stainless steel to 23.4 mA/cm 2 using rough back reflector. We introduced profiling of the H 2 dilution during growth of the nc-Si:H layer to prevent a transition to amorphous growth. The efficiency for a single junction n-i-p cell reached 8.5%, the highest reported value for HWCVD cells of this kind. Moreover, these cells show to be totally stable under light-soaking tests. Combining the above techniques, an efficiency of 10.9% has been obtained for triple junction cells (J sc = 8.35 mA/cm 2 , V oc = 1.98 V, FF = 0.661). By using effective light trapping techniques and three different band-gap materials, the required thickness could be kept small (∼ 2.5 μm total).

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Hot-wire chemical vapor-deposited microcrystalline silicon in single and tandem n–i–p solar cells

Cited by 18 publications

References 9 publications

On the development of single and multijunction solar cells with hot-wire CVD deposited active layers

On the development of single and multijunction solar cells with hot-wire CVD deposited active layers

Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition: Recent Progress, Present State of the Art and Competitive Opportunities

Nanostructured thin films for multibandgap silicon triple junction solar cells

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