Influence of the high-temperature “firing” step on high-rate plasma deposited silicon nitride films used as bulk passivating antireflection coatings on silicon solar cells

Hong, Jung-Wan; Kessels, Wmm Erwin; Soppe, W.J.; Weeber, A.W.; Arnoldbik, W.M.; Sanden, van de Mcm Richard

doi:10.1116/1.1609481

Cited by 101 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] The physical mechanisms of bulk passivation by hydrogenation are not yet completely understood. For instance, the hydrogen diffusion mechanism 28 and the role of an aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) in this process [29][30][31][32][33][34] as well as the interaction between hydrogen and oxygen complexes in silicon 35,36 are still the subject of discussion. The benefits of bulk passivation by silicon nitride however are so evident that its implementation in the production process of mc-Si solar cells has become a priority for the PV industry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD

Soppe

Rieffe

Weeber

2005

Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl.

135

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Bulk and surface passivation by silicon nitride has become an indispensable element in industrial production of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells. Microwave PECVD is a very effective method for high-throughput deposition of silicon nitride layers with the required properties for bulk and surface passivation. In this paper an analysis is presented of the relation between deposition parameters of microwave PECVD and material properties of silicon nitride. By tuning the process conditions (substrate temperature, gas flows, working pressure) we have been able to fabricate silicon nitride layers which fulfill almost ideally the four major requirements for mcSi solar cells: (1) good anti-reflection coating (refractive index tunable between 2Á0 and 2Á3); (2) good surface passivation on p-type FZ wafers (S eff < 30 cm/s); (3) good bulk passivation (improvement of IQE at 1000 nm by 30% after short thermal anneal); (4) long-term stability (no observable degradation after several years of exposure to sunlight). By implementing this silicon nitride deposition in an inline production process of mc-Si solar cells we have been able to produce cells with an efficiency of 16Á5%.Finally, we established that the continuous deposition process could be maintained for at least 20 h without interruption for maintenance. On this timescale we did not observe any significant changes in layer properties or cell properties. This shows the robustness of microwave PECVD for industrial production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD

Soppe

Rieffe

Weeber

2005

Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl.

135

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“…1,2 It also provides a humidity barrier, protecting underlying interfaces from the degrading effects of moisture, 3,4 and is a source of hydrogen for passivating silicon bulk defects. [5][6][7][8] On c-Si substrates, low surface recombination has been achieved by various plasma techniques and gas mixtures. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Details of the deposition processes and silicon substrates employed in these studies are included in Table I.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation and optimisation of PECVD SiNx as an antireflection coating and passivation layer for silicon solar cells

Wan¹,

McIntosh²,

Thomson³

2013

AIP Advances

114

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In this work, we investigate how the film properties of silicon nitride (SiNx) depend on its deposition conditions when formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The examination is conducted with a Roth & Rau AK400 PECVD reactor, where the varied parameters are deposition temperature, pressure, gas flow ratio, total gas flow, microwave plasma power and radio-frequency bias voltage. The films are evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to determine structural properties, by spectrophotometry to determine optical properties, and by capacitance–voltage and photoconductance measurements to determine electronic properties. After reporting on the dependence of SiNx properties on deposition parameters, we determine the optimized deposition conditions that attain low absorption and low recombination. On the basis of SiNx growth models proposed in the literature and of our experimental results, we discuss how each process parameter affects the deposition rate and chemical bond density. We then focus on the effective surface recombination velocity Seff, which is of primary importance to solar cells. We find that for the SiNx prepared in this work, 1) Seff does not correlate universally with the bulk structural and optical properties such as chemical bond densities and refractive index, and 2) Seff depends primarily on the defect density at the SiNx-Si interface rather than the insulator charge. Finally, employing the optimized deposition condition, we achieve a relatively constant and low Seff,UL on low-resistivity (≤1.1 Ωcm) p- and n-type c-Si substrates over a broad range of n = 1.85–4.07. The results of this study demonstrate that the trade-off between optical transmission and surface passivation can be circumvented. Although we focus on photovoltaic applications, this study may be useful for any device for which it is desirable to maximize light transmission and surface passivation

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“…11,18 The observed differences between Si-rich and N-rich SiN x capping films are consistent with the fact that the diffusion and release of hydrogen, initially bonded as Si-H and N-H in SiN x , are very sensitive to film composition. [23][24][25] Effusion of hydrogen in Si-rich SiN x was shown to occur at lower temperatures compared to more compact SiN x , 24,25 which led to a reduced availability of hydrogen at high annealing temperatures. Therefore, the results in Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effective passivation of Si surfaces by plasma deposited SiOx/a-SiNx:H stacks

Dingemans

Mandoc

Bordihn

et al. 2011

Applied Physics Letters

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Very low surface recombination velocities <6 and <11 cm/s were obtained for SiOx/a-SiNx:H stacks synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on low resistivity n- and p-type c-Si, respectively. The stacks induced a constant effective lifetime under low illumination, comparable to Al2O3 on p-type Si. Compared to single layer a-SiNx:H, a lower positive fixed charge density was revealed by second-harmonic generation measurements, while field-effect passivation was absent for a reference stack comprising thermally grown SiO2. The results indicate that hydrogenation of interface states played a key role in the passivation and remained effective up to annealing temperatures >800 °C.

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Influence of the high-temperature “firing” step on high-rate plasma deposited silicon nitride films used as bulk passivating antireflection coatings on silicon solar cells

Abstract: Influence of the high-temperature "firing" step on highrate plasma deposited silicon nitride films used as bulk passivating antireflection coatings on silicon solar cells

Cited by 101 publications

References 44 publications

Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD

Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD

Characterisation and optimisation of PECVD SiNx as an antireflection coating and passivation layer for silicon solar cells

Effective passivation of Si surfaces by plasma deposited SiOx/a-SiNx:H stacks

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