will enable fully textured perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells by co-evaporation that are on par with state-of-the-art devices employing solution-processed perovskites.
Liquid phase crystallization of silicon is a promising technology platform to grow multi crystalline silicon thin films on foreign substrates. For solar cell application it has already been demonstrated that open circuit voltages of up to 661 mV [1] and efficiencies of up to 15.9 % [2] can be achieved on a silicon layer of a few microns only. However, while the quality of the material has been continuously improved, the cost factor of the utilized substrate has been given little attention. The present work focuses on the technology transfer from technical glass substrates to low cost soda-lime glass substrates to become more attractive for commercial applications. We demonstrate first liquid phase crystallized silicon layer on soda-lime glass substrate and show that the layer adhesion by the more than twice as large expansion coefficient of soda lime glasses compared to the established technical glasses has a significant influence on various processing options and countermeasures to overcome adhesion issues have to be considered. Furthermore, we investigate the electrical performance of the resulting absorber material for silicon thin film solar cells and report our first results on the electrical performance in terms of open circuit voltages, Hall mobility's and effective minority carrier lifetimes.
Coatings like TiAlN (titanium content more than 50%) or AlTiN (aluminium content more than 50%) are well established as hard and wear-resistant tool coatings, often prepared by physical vapour deposition (PVD) like arc evaporation or direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS). With increasing challenges of operating conditions, there is a constant need for improvement of mechanical properties to withstand extreme loading conditions. This can be obtained by a higher amount of ionized sputtered metal atoms during the deposition process. To increase the metal ion flux a high-power pulse magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) was developed. In order to understand the relation between HPPMS process parameters and mechanical properties of the AlTiN coatings, the present study discusses how different pulse-frequencies (for a constant pulse length) influence AlTiN coating structure growth and their mechanical properties. In addition, film deposition rate and phase formation are influenced by altering process parameters like pulse length and frequency. Hence, different pulse-frequencies produce specific coatings with corresponding properties for functional requirements. Based on the established findings, answers to new scientific queries along with the demand to further optimize these coatings for tool applications are required.
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