Improved metal adhesion with galvanic nickel plating to silicon solar cells

Rodriguez, John; Zhang, Wei; Lim, Sean; Lennon, Alison

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2016.12.012

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Annealing after plating causes a significant drop in the resistance values on contacts with interface oxide. Thus, after postplating annealing, the influence of the interface oxide on the series resistance of solar cells is attenuated [23].…”

Section: A Postplating Annealing Significantly Decreases the Contact ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Büchler

Grübel

Arya

et al. 2019

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Section: A Postplating Annealing Significantly Decreases the Contact ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Büchler

Grübel

Arya

et al. 2019

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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“…The process uniformity may have been assisted by the heavily‐doped n + surface to which the Ni was plated. This permitted a long sintering duration that would be expected to effectively reduce any surface oxides which may have formed at the Si interface during the electroless Ni plating process . Consequently, a uniform Ni silicide most likely formed across the entire contact surface and increased contact adhesion …”

Section: Challenges For Copper‐plated Silicon Solar Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges facing copper‐plated metallisation for silicon photovoltaics: Insights from integrated circuit technology development

Lennon

Colwell

Rodbell

2018

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Copper‐plated interconnects were widely adopted for volume manufacture of integrated circuits after more than a decade of intensive research to demonstrate that use of Cu would not impact device reliability. However, although Cu‐plated metallisation promises significantly reduced costs for Si photovoltaics, its adoption in manufacturing has not gained the same traction. This review identifies some key challenges facing the introduction of Cu‐plated metallisation for Si photovoltaics. These include the following: (1) increased carrier recombination due to the use of Cu for metal contact formation; (2) reduced module reliability due to adhesion or contact integrity failures; and (3) limited availability of cost‐effective processes and equipment for metal plating. For integrated circuits, Cu's low electrical resistance and high resistance to electromigration provided an impetus for the large investment in process development that was required to realise Cu‐plated interconnects. However, the technical advantages of using Cu for Si solar cell contacts are not as compelling, as solar cells can tolerate larger feature sizes thus reducing the criticality of the contact metal's conductivity and electromigration properties. Additionally, for Si photovoltaics, low cost is paramount, and new challenges arise from the need for modules to absorb light and operate in the field for 25+ years in diverse outdoor climates. However, with the scale of Si photovoltaic manufacturing expected to increase dramatically in the next decade, the use of large quantities of silver for cell metallisation will provide an incentive to address reliability concerns regarding the use of Cu for Si photovoltaic metallisation.

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“…No significant surface roughening on the sub‐micrometer‐scale is detected on the ns‐pulse laser openings and other passivation layer ablation configuration that cause a melting of the underlying silicon crystal and a smooth surface after recrystallization . But, there are several ways of realizing adhesion of plated contacts on passivation layer openings that were created by ns‐pulsed or cw lasers: silicidation of the nickel–silicon interface, roughening the silicon surface before metal deposition or using plating bath chemistry that roughens the surface during metal deposition . Formation of silicide may cause local shunting or requires two‐step nickel plating with interim anneal .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimized Adhesion of Plated Silicon Solar Cell Contacts by F₂‐Based Dry Atmospheric Pressure Nano‐Roughening

Büchler

Kafle

Weber

et al. 2018

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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The adhesion of a plated layer on a substrate is increased by an appropriate roughness at the interface. The paper reports on plated Ni‐Cu‐Ag contacts for silicon solar cells deposited into passivation layer openings that are created using a nano‐second pulsed laser. The adhesion of plated contacts on ns‐pulsed laser‐structured silicon ab initio is not sufficient. This is attributed to an improper surface topography. Atmospheric pressure dry etching in F2 is introduced as plating pre‐treatment to generate a beneficial nano‐roughness on the silicon substrate. Until now, this method is used in silicon photovoltaics only for the formation of black silicon. Process parameters are adjusted to allow the formation of cavities in the range of 5–30 nm. Thereby, the contact adhesion increases. In peel force tests on busbars, the average peel‐force raised from 0.3 to 2 N mm−1. In sheer‐test on finger contacts an increase of maximum sheer force and a decreasing length of the finger displacement are observed. Due to the high etch selectivity between silicon and silicon nitride, no additional etch mask is required to protect the passivation layer. As precursors with a non‐optimized emitter design are used, the roughening procedure affects the solar cell efficiency.

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Improved metal adhesion with galvanic nickel plating to silicon solar cells

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Challenges facing copper‐plated metallisation for silicon photovoltaics: Insights from integrated circuit technology development

Optimized Adhesion of Plated Silicon Solar Cell Contacts by F₂‐Based Dry Atmospheric Pressure Nano‐Roughening

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Improved metal adhesion with galvanic nickel plating to silicon solar cells

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Microcharacterization of Interface Oxide Layer on Laser-Structured Silicon Surfaces of Plated Ni–Cu Solar Cells

Challenges facing copper‐plated metallisation for silicon photovoltaics: Insights from integrated circuit technology development

Optimized Adhesion of Plated Silicon Solar Cell Contacts by F2‐Based Dry Atmospheric Pressure Nano‐Roughening

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Product

Resources

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Optimized Adhesion of Plated Silicon Solar Cell Contacts by F₂‐Based Dry Atmospheric Pressure Nano‐Roughening