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Using a high throughput, in‐line atmosphere chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) tool, we have synthesized amorphous aluminum oxide (AlOx) films from precursors of trimethyl‐aluminum (TMA) and O2, yielding a maximum deposition 150 nm min–1 per wafer. For p‐type crystalline silicon (c‐Si) wafers, excellent surface passivation was achieved with the APCVD AlOx films, with a best maximum effective surface recombination velocity (Seff,max) of 8 cm/s following a standard industrial firing step. The findings could be attributed to the existence of large negative charge (Qf ≈ –3 × 1012 cm–2) and low interface defect density (Dit ≈ 4 × 1011 eV–1 cm–2) achieved by the films. This data demonstrates a high potential for APCVD AlOx to be used in high efficiency, low cost industrial solar cells. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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Herein, we investigate the process–structure–properties relationships of in situ phosphorus (P)‐doped polycrystalline silicon (poly‐Si) films by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) for fabricating poly‐Si passivating, electron selective contacts. This high‐throughput in‐line APCVD technique enables to achieve a low‐cost, simple manufacturing process for crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells featuring poly‐Si passivating contact by excluding the need for vacuum/plasma environment, and additional post‐deposition doping steps. A thin layer of this P‐doped poly‐Si is deposited on an ultrathin (1.5 nm) silicon oxide (SiO x ) coated c‐Si substrate to fabricate the passivating contact. This is followed by various post‐deposition treatments, including a high‐temperature annealing step and hydrogenation process. The poly‐Si films are characterized to achieve a better understanding of the impacts of deposition process conditions and post‐deposition treatments on the microstructure, electrical conductivity, passivation quality, and carrier selectivity of the contacts which assists to identify the optimal process conditions. In this work, the optimized annealing process with post‐hydrogenation yields passivating contact with a saturation current density (J 0) of 3 fA cm−2 and an implied open‐circuit voltage (iV OC) of 712 mV on planar c‐Si wafer. Junction resistivity values ranging from 50 to 260 mΩ cm2 are realized for the poly‐Si contacts processed in the optimal annealing condition.