Influence of the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterostructure properties on planar conductance measurements

Varache, Renaud; Favre, Wilfried; Korte, Lars; Kleider, Jean‐Paul

doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2011.11.023

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…The surface conductances for the films grown on crystalline silicon substrates correspond to increasing i-layer thickness (0, 4, and 10 min of deposition at a nominal deposition rate of 1 nm/min). As expected from studies on RF PECVD a-Si:H films [10][11][12], the samples on crystalline silicon have a much higher conductance and a weaker temperature dependence, i.e. a lower activation energy (see Table 2), which suggests the presence of a strong inverted layer at the interface.…”

Section: Results and Analysissupporting

confidence: 66%

“…We also see that for the same doping concentration on glass, increased film thickness results in higher conductivity with no significant change in activation energy. From Table 2 we note that for samples on glass, [11]. However the samples on crystalline silicon do not follow the expected trend as doping concentration increases; instead the intermediate doped sample shows a higher conductance than the highest doped sample.…”

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 85%

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Interface properties of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions prepared using DC saddle-field PECVD

Halliop

Salaün

Favre

et al. 2012

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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Section: Results and Analysissupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 85%

Interface properties of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions prepared using DC saddle-field PECVD

Halliop

Salaün

Favre

et al. 2012

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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“…14,15 Until now, the inversion layer has been considered only as a tool to characterize the band offsets at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface 16,17 and its influence on lateral transport in operating devices has not yet been analyzed. Lateral transport through an inversion layer is successfully leveraged in modulationdoped field-effect transistors 18 and in metal-insulatorconductor inversion layer solar cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of lateral transport through the inversion layer in amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

Filipič

Holman

Smole

et al. 2013

Journal of Applied Physics

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In amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells, an inversion layer is present at the front interface. By combining numerical simulations and experiments, we examine the contribution of the inversion layer to lateral transport and assess whether this layer can be exploited to replace the front transparent conductive oxide (TCO) in devices. For this, heterojunction solar cells of different areas (2 Â 2, 4 Â 4, and 6 Â 6 mm 2 ) with and without TCO layers on the front side were prepared. Laser-beam-induced current measurements are compared with simulation results from the ASPIN2 semiconductor simulator. Current collection is constant across millimeter distances for cells with TCO; however, carriers traveling more than a few hundred microns in cells without TCO recombine before they can be collected. Simulations show that increasing the valence band offset increases the concentration of holes under the surface of n-type crystalline silicon, which increases the conductivity of the inversion layer. Unfortunately, this also impedes transport across the barrier to the emitter. We conclude that the lateral conductivity of the inversion layer may not suffice to fully replace the front TCO in heterojunction devices. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

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“…This lead us to an estimate of Δ E C = 0.15 ± 0.04 eV . A deeper analysis where the influence of other a‐Si:H parameters (position of the Fermi level, density of states at the Fermi level, characteristic temperature of the band tail) was taken into account, together with additional experimental data, which resulted in a slightly larger estimate of Δ E C = 0.18 ± 0.05 eV . The effect of interface states was also considered.…”

Section: Determination Of Band Diagrams At Silicon Heterojunctionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effect of interface states was also considered. It was shown that they could only have a significant impact on the band bending for values of the interface states density larger than 10 12 cm −2 …”

Section: Determination Of Band Diagrams At Silicon Heterojunctionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress in Understanding the Properties of the Amorphous Silicon/Crystalline Silicon Interface

Kleider

Alvarez

Brüggemann

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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The authors review experimental and modeling approaches developed at GeePs to have a better knowledge and understanding of the interface between hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c‐Si) in heterojunction solar cells. The authors emphasize the existence of a strong inversion layer at the c‐Si surface for both (n) a‐Si:H/(p) c‐Si and (p) a‐Si:H/(n) c‐Si heterojunctions. Conductive probe atomic force microscopy reveals the existence of a conductive channel at the c‐Si surface. The analysis of complementary lateral planar conductance and capacitance measurements allows for a better description of the band diagram in both types of heterojunctions especially through the determination of band offset values. Furthermore, the passivation properties of the (i) a‐Si:H buffer layer are studied by modeling the volume defects in a‐Si:H with the defect‐pool model. In particular, the DOS in the very thin (i) a‐Si:H layers is much larger than in bulk (i) a‐Si:H because the Fermi level position favors defect creation. Surface defects in c‐Si at the a‐Si:H/c‐Si interface are then quantified and the general trends of effective lifetime measurements with the (i) a‐Si:H layer thickness can be explained, notably the increase of the effective lifetime in c‐Si with increasing the (i) a‐Si:H buffer thickness.

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Influence of the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterostructure properties on planar conductance measurements

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Interface properties of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions prepared using DC saddle-field PECVD

Interface properties of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions prepared using DC saddle-field PECVD

Analysis of lateral transport through the inversion layer in amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

Recent Progress in Understanding the Properties of the Amorphous Silicon/Crystalline Silicon Interface

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