Homojunction and heterojunction silicon solar cells deposited by low temperature–high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

Plá, Juan Carlos; Centurioni, E.; Summonte, C.; Rizzoli, R.; Migliori, A.; Desalvo, A.; Zignani, F.

doi:10.1016/s0040-6090(01)01709-6

Cited by 25 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…14,15 The use of frequencies higher than 13.56 MHz results in a decrease of the accelerating potential that characterizes the space charge region, called sheath, which forms in the plasma chamber as a consequence of the different mobility of ions and electrons upon time dependent electric field application. 19 Deposition of c-Si proceeds at a higher deposition rate than obtainable using rf 20 as a consequence of the more efficient coupling of the electrical power into SiH 4 dissociation. 17 As ion bombardment is believed to inhibit the growth of silicon crystallites, 18 the growth of microcrystalline silicon ͑c-Si͒ takes advantage from the use of very high frequency (VHF) plasmas that allow for epitaxial regrowth on crystalline silicon avoiding the unwanted formation of an amorphous interface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide band-gap silicon-carbon alloys deposited by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Summonte

Rizzoli

Bianconi

et al. 2004

Journal of Applied Physics

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High rate deposition of diamond like carbon films by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at 100 MHz Wide band gap amorphous hydrogenated carbon films grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor depositionThe use of very high frequency (VHF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition in a capacitive discharge is investigated to fabricate hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbon alloys, using silane and methane as silicon and carbon precursors, respectively, and hydrogen dilution of the gas mixture. The properties of samples differ significantly from that is normally observed for rf deposition. A wide band-gap material is obtained, with a carbon ratio ranging from 0.2 to 0.63. An energy gap up to 3.4 eV is measured, indicating a large sp 3 content. The most interesting properties are observed using 90% hydrogen dilution and 350°C as substrate temperature. In this case, a Siu C bond concentration up to 6 ϫ 10 22 cm −3 was measured for stoichiometric samples, associated to a highly crosslinked structure and no detectable Siu CH 3 bending signal. The role of hydrogen in determining the optical properties of the film is established and is shown to affect mainly the valence electron concentration. Based on the free energy model, hydrogen bonding is observed to lie in between a random and chemically ordered configuration. The results are obtained at a deposition rate much larger than both rf and electron cyclotron resonance deposition, and are associated to a limited gas consumption, both aspects being advantageous for practical applications. The large Siu C bond concentration, associated to a limited silicon and carbon hydrogenation, makes the VHF deposited a-SiC : H a good starting material for subsequent crystallization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide band-gap silicon-carbon alloys deposited by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Summonte

Rizzoli

Bianconi

et al. 2004

Journal of Applied Physics

Self Cite

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“…[6][7][8][9][10] Recently, PECVD epitaxial layers regained increased interest, however, as it was recognized that such layers are ideally suited to engineer silicon solar cells, either as (relatively thick) optically active absorber layers that replace the stillcostly wafer 11,12 or as thin layers for homojunction formation (electron or hole collectors, depending on the doping type). [13][14][15][16] Such thin epitaxial layers have also found application in certain high-efficiency heterojunction solar cell architectures and heterojunction field-effect transistors, illustrating that the same PECVD tools can be used to deposit various materials to engineer electronic devices. [17][18][19] Despite this, the precise influence of the plasma conditions on the electronic and microstructural quality of the grown layers has been elusive.…”

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confidence: 99%

Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties

Demaurex¹,

Bartlomé²,

Seif³

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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Low-temperature (≤200 °C) epitaxial growth yields precise thickness, doping, and thermal-budget control, which enables advanced-design semiconductor devices. In this paper, we use plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition to grow homo-epitaxial layers and study the different growth modes on crystalline silicon substrates. In particular, we determine the conditions leading to epitaxial growth in light of a model that depends only on the silane concentration in the plasma and the mean free path length of surface adatoms. For such growth, we show that the presence of a persistent defective interface layer between the crystalline silicon substrate and the epitaxial layer stems not only from the growth conditions but also from unintentional contamination of the reactor. Based on our findings, we determine the plasma conditions to grow high-quality bulk epitaxial films and propose a two-step growth process to obtain device-grade material.

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“…In a homojunction solar cell, the p and n-type semiconductors for window and absorbing layers are fabricated by doping the different elements into the same material. While in a heterojunction solar cell, the window layer and absorbing layer are fabricated using different materials [12,13]. The interfaces of heterojunctions are designed from layers of dissimilar semiconductors with unequal band gaps in order to create band offsets at the level of valence and conduction bands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%