Dependence of solar cell contact resistivity measurements on sample preparation methods

Dopant‐free passivating contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells: Progress and prospects

“…However, these parameters are not easy to determine experimentally. Instead, two equilibrium parameters are typically used to assess the carrier selectivity of passivating contact: the contact recombination current density ( J 0c ), representing the flux of non‐collected charge carriers to the contact, and the contact resistivity (also termed the specific contact resistance, ρ c ), denoting the contact resistance when majority carriers are collected in the contact area 23,24 . Generally speaking, high‐quality passivating contacts should exhibit low J 0c and low ρ c simultaneously.…”

Non-Destructive Contact Resistivity Measurements on Solar Cells Using the Circular Transmission Line Method

“…The transmission line method (TLM) [2,3], is another common way of measuring ρc as well as the sheet resistance Rsh (ohms/sq) of the underlying doped Si layer and the transfer length LT on commercial grade solar cells [4,5]. When applying this technique to cells, the devices are cut into strips parallel to their busbars so that current flow can be isolated between incrementally spaced contact pairs and the resultant resistance can be measured.…”

Reduction in contact resistivity of Ag thick-film conductor on SiN x -coated Si wafer for solar cell using lead tellurite glass frit

“…The conventional transfer length method (TLM) was applied to determine the contact resistivity of Ag thick-film conductor on the Si wafer. [26][27][28][29][30] Figure 1 shows the schematic plan-view depiction of the Ag thick-film conductor pattern used for TLM measurement, in which Ag thick-film conductors are printed with 1 mm length (d) and 10 mm width (W) separated by a distance (L) 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm, respectively. The total resistance between the two Ag thick-film conductors was measured using a SourceMeter (Keithley Instruments Keithley 2400).…”

“…TLM assumes that each linear contact area is at a constant potential and current flows uniformly between one contact area and the next. 26) The results on total resistance versus Ag thick-film conductor distance measured by TLM are often used to estimate the contact resistivity as contact performance of Ag thick-film conductor on Si wafers. 6,8,12,[25][26][27][28] Analyses of TG/DTA showed that the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the lead borosilicate glass frit was approximately 390 °C, and the peaks for crystallization (T c ) and re-melting (T m ) were not observed up to 800 °C.…”

“…26) The results on total resistance versus Ag thick-film conductor distance measured by TLM are often used to estimate the contact resistivity as contact performance of Ag thick-film conductor on Si wafers. 6,8,12,[25][26][27][28] Analyses of TG/DTA showed that the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the lead borosilicate glass frit was approximately 390 °C, and the peaks for crystallization (T c ) and re-melting (T m ) were not observed up to 800 °C. On the other hand, T g of the lead tellurite glass frit was approximately 230 °C, and T c and T m were approximately 370 °C and 570 °C, respectively.…”