Structural Inhomogeneity in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon in Relation to Photoelectric Properties and Defect Density

Sakikawa, Nobuki; Tamao, Masaki; Miyazaki, Seiichi; Hirose, Masataka

doi:10.1143/jjap.38.5768

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…So these inner surfaces are supposedly well suited to act as SWE reaction centers [47,56]. This assumption is corroborated by the observation that a decrease of the structural inhomogeneity of a-Si:H, which is caused by the presence of the voids, is coupled directly to a decrease in the SWE [14]. Based on these facts we believe that one (or some) of said localized entities are the precursors A of one type of the MDBs.…”

Section: Electron Trapping By Excited Microvoids (Etem)-a New Proposalmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Later this point of view has been adopted by Mahan et al [47]. Also other results emphasize the importance of these structural entities [14].…”

Section: The Staebler-wronski Effect (Swe)mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…All material of device quality seems to be interspersed with cavities of various size. Estimations show that the inner void surfaces are hydrogenated only slightly [11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon (A-si:h)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Electron trapping by excited microvoids (ETEM)—an explanation of the Staebler–Wronski effect

Krüger

Sax

2004

Physica B: Condensed Matter

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Section: Electron Trapping By Excited Microvoids (Etem)-a New Proposalmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Later this point of view has been adopted by Mahan et al [47]. Also other results emphasize the importance of these structural entities [14].…”

Section: The Staebler-wronski Effect (Swe)mentioning

confidence: 90%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Electron trapping by excited microvoids (ETEM)—an explanation of the Staebler–Wronski effect

Krüger

Sax

2004

Physica B: Condensed Matter

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“…1,23,24 Lateral nonuniformities in V oc , j 0 , and other parameters were identified in microcrystalline, multicrystalline, and polycrystalline silicon. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] In particular, it was shown 32-34 that forward current through a multicrystalline cell does not flow homogeneously and is dominated by local sites of diode nature different from the standard ohmic shunts.…”

Section: Survey Of Mesoscale Nonuniformity Observationsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Random diode arrays and mesoscale physics of large-area semiconductor devices

2004

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Large-area, thin-film semiconductor devices often exhibit strong fluctuations in electronic properties on a mesoscale level that originate from relatively weak microscopic fluctuations in material structures such as grain size, chemical composition, and film thickness. Amplification comes from the fact that electronic transport through potential barriers is exponentially sensitive to the local parameter fluctuations. These effects create new phenomena and establish the physics of large-area, thin-film devices as a distinctive field of its own, quite different from that of microelectronics. We show that ͑i͒ large-area semiconductor thin-film devices are intrinsically nonuniform in the lateral directions, ͑ii͒ the nonuniformity can span length scales from millimeters to meters depending on external drivers such as light intensity and bias, and ͑iii͒ this nonuniformity significantly impacts the performance and stability of, e.g., photovoltaics, liquid crystal displays, and light emitting arrays. From the theoretical standpoint our consideration introduces a new class of disordered systems, which are random diode arrays. We propose a theory describing one class of such arrays and derive a figure of merit that characterizes the significance of nonuniformity effects. Our understanding suggests some methods for blocking the effects of nonuniformities.

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“…While TEM can provide additional interfacial analysis, crystal structure and small region elemental analysis, high resolution tunneling electron microscope (HRTEM) can pictures further details. The efficiency of light absorption and photo-electric conversion depends highly on the electronic and structural properties of the material [13][14]. Therefore, using different techniques to evaluate electronic and structural properties of the solar cell thin films is indispensable for the improvement of these devices.…”

Section: Characterizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin Film Solar Cell: Characteristics and Characterizations

Hossain

2015

AMR

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In recent decades, due to some urgent and unavoidable issues, such as increasing energy demand, climate change, global warming, etc., the R&D of renewable energies have become inevitable to pave way the sustainable development of human society. In this regard, solar power is widely considered as the most appealing clean energy since there is no other one being as abundant as the sun. The amount of solar energy reaching our earth within one hour equals to the total annual energy need of all of humankind. Since the energy resources on Earth are being exhausted, solar energy have to serve as the main energy source in coming century and beyond. The photovoltaic solar cells developed so far have been based on silicon wafers, with this dominance likely to continue well into the future. The surge in manufacturing volume as well as emerging technologies over the last decade has resulted in greatly decreased costs. Therefore, several companies are now well below the USD 1 W−1 module manufacturing cost benchmark that was once regarded as the lowest possible with this technology. Thin-film silicon, such as hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si), microcrystalline silicon (mc-Si) and related alloys, are promising materials for very low-cost solar cells. Here in this article, a brief description of thin film solar cell technologies followed by deferent state-of-art tools used for characterizing such solar cells are explored. Since characteristics of thin-film solar cells are the main ingredient in defining efficiency, the inherent properties are also mentioned alongside the characterizations.

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Structural Inhomogeneity in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon in Relation to Photoelectric Properties and Defect Density

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

Electron trapping by excited microvoids (ETEM)—an explanation of the Staebler–Wronski effect

Electron trapping by excited microvoids (ETEM)—an explanation of the Staebler–Wronski effect

Random diode arrays and mesoscale physics of large-area semiconductor devices

Thin Film Solar Cell: Characteristics and Characterizations

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