Low temperature surface passivation for silicon solar cells

Leguijt, C.; Lölgen, P.; Eikelboom, John W.; Weeber, A.W.; Schuurmans, F.M.; Sinke, W.C.; Alkemade, P.F.A.; Sarro, P.M.; Marée, C.H.M.; Verhoef, L.A.

doi:10.1016/0927-0248(95)00155-7

Cited by 139 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In photovoltaic applications, anti-reflection coatings comprising high refractive index thin films are used in solar cells to trap the incident light and increase the amount of light coupled into the solar cell [4,5]. In waveguidebased optical sensors, it has been demonstrated that a high refractive index superstrate layer on the waveguide surface results in lower limits of detection [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical properties of high refractive index thin films processed at low-temperature

et al. 2012

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a b s t r a c tThis study reports on the first development of high refractive index thin film materials processed at temperatures not greater than 100°C. Three materials were synthesised by the sol-gel technique, each employing different transition metal precursors (niobium, tantalum and vanadium alkoxides). The optical properties of these materials were characterised by ellipsometry and the propagation losses at 638 nm were measured by the prism coupling method. It is shown that refractive indices as high as 1.870, 2.039 and 2.308 are obtained from niobium-, tantalum-and vanadium-based materials respectively, attributed to the influence of the transition metal atomic size on the condensation reactions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical properties of high refractive index thin films processed at low-temperature

et al. 2012

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“…Amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride a-SiN x :H (hereafter referred to as SiN x ) synthesised by low-temperature PECVD has become the state-of-the-art ARC layer for c-Si solar cells to fulfil these two requirements. 1,2 It also provides a humidity barrier, protecting underlying interfaces from the degrading effects of moisture, 3,4 and is a source of hydrogen for passivating silicon bulk defects. [5][6][7][8] On c-Si substrates, low surface recombination has been achieved by various plasma techniques and gas mixtures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation and optimisation of PECVD SiNx as an antireflection coating and passivation layer for silicon solar cells

Wan¹,

McIntosh²,

Thomson³

2013

AIP Advances

116

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In this work, we investigate how the film properties of silicon nitride (SiNx) depend on its deposition conditions when formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The examination is conducted with a Roth & Rau AK400 PECVD reactor, where the varied parameters are deposition temperature, pressure, gas flow ratio, total gas flow, microwave plasma power and radio-frequency bias voltage. The films are evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to determine structural properties, by spectrophotometry to determine optical properties, and by capacitance–voltage and photoconductance measurements to determine electronic properties. After reporting on the dependence of SiNx properties on deposition parameters, we determine the optimized deposition conditions that attain low absorption and low recombination. On the basis of SiNx growth models proposed in the literature and of our experimental results, we discuss how each process parameter affects the deposition rate and chemical bond density. We then focus on the effective surface recombination velocity Seff, which is of primary importance to solar cells. We find that for the SiNx prepared in this work, 1) Seff does not correlate universally with the bulk structural and optical properties such as chemical bond densities and refractive index, and 2) Seff depends primarily on the defect density at the SiNx-Si interface rather than the insulator charge. Finally, employing the optimized deposition condition, we achieve a relatively constant and low Seff,UL on low-resistivity (≤1.1 Ωcm) p- and n-type c-Si substrates over a broad range of n = 1.85–4.07. The results of this study demonstrate that the trade-off between optical transmission and surface passivation can be circumvented. Although we focus on photovoltaic applications, this study may be useful for any device for which it is desirable to maximize light transmission and surface passivation

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“…1 In addition to their use in silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) structures for non-volatile memory applications, 2 they are also widely used as a dielectric in radio frequency Microelectromechanical system (RF-MEMS) switches, [3][4][5] anti-reflective coating in silicon solar cells, 6,7 passivation layer to form alkali-ion diffusion barrier 7 and dielectric insulator film for thin film transistors (TFT). 8 The amorphous SiN x matrix is highly constrained due to its high overall coordination number and, hence, exhibits a high concentration of defects as compared to other amorphous dielectrics such as a-SiO 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of topological disorder on structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of amorphous silicon nitride: An atomistic study

2012

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ABSTRACT:We present a first principles study of the effect of atomic variability on the structure, mechanical and electronic properties of amorphous silicon nitride. Using a combination of molecular dynamics and density functional theory calculations we predict an ensemble of statistically independent, well-relaxed and stress-free amorphous silicon nitride structures. We analyze the short, intermediate, and long-range order of the structures generated using radial distribution functions, ring statistics, bond angle distributions, and translational invariance parameters. Though energetically very similar, these structures span a wide range of densities (2.75-3.25 g/cm 3 ) and bulk moduli (115GPa to 220 GPa) in good agreement with the fabrication-dependent experimental range. Chemical bonds and atomic defects are identified via a combination of bond distance cutoff and maximally localized Wannier function analysis. A significant number of the amorphous structures generated (~30%) are defect-free providing an ideal reference to characterize the formation energy of the various point defects and their defect energy levels. An analysis of the Kohn-Sham density of states and energetics of the structures reveals that defects in amorphous dielectrics have a distribution of associated properties (e.g. formation energies and electronic energy levels) due to variations in local atomic structure; this should be taken into consideration in physics-based continuum models of these materials.

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Low temperature surface passivation for silicon solar cells

Cited by 139 publications

References 42 publications

Optical properties of high refractive index thin films processed at low-temperature

Optical properties of high refractive index thin films processed at low-temperature

Characterisation and optimisation of PECVD SiNx as an antireflection coating and passivation layer for silicon solar cells

Effect of topological disorder on structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of amorphous silicon nitride: An atomistic study

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