Interface passivation of liquid‐phase crystallized silicon on glass studied with high‐frequency capacitance–voltage measurements

Preissler, Natalie; Töfflinger, Jan Amaru; Shutsko, Ivan; Gabriel, Onno; Calnan, Sonya; Stannowski, Bernd; Rech, Bernd; Schlatmann, Rutger

doi:10.1002/pssa.201532957

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Capacitance–voltage ( C–V ) measurements revealed a high positive fixed charge density ( Q f ) of 1.4 · 10 12 cm −2 for a 20/100/80 nm SiN x /SiO x /SiO x N y LPC‐Si interlayer stack, which is similar to the values reported for SiN x :H layers on c‐Si wafers . On p‐type wafers, such Q f results in a charge inversion layer …”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

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Influence of the Frontside Charge Inversion Layer on the Minority Carrier Collection in Backside Contacted Liquid Phase Crystallized Silicon on Glass Solar Cells

et al. 2017

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External quantum efficiency and light beam induced current measurements were used to investigate backside contacted solar cells made on p‐type, liquid phase crystallized silicon on glass (LPC‐Si). Among other differences, these cells had either a SiOxNy or an Al2O3/SiO2 based frontside surface passivation (interlayer). From the measurements it was observed that the cell with the SiOxNy interlayer showed a charge carrier collection from below the absorber contact and from outside the cell area that is much larger than expected from the typical diffusion length in LPC‐Si. This was in contrast to the cell with the Al2O3/SiO2 interlayer, which showed the expected behavior. It was also observed that for the cell with the SiOxNy interlayer, both the collection outside and the collection inside the cell area were strongly bias light dependent. It is argued that these charge carriers collected from outside the cell area are collected through a frontside charge inversion layer. This was supported by an analysis of the measured wavelength and bias light dependence of the collection outside the cell area for the cell with the SiOxNy interlayer. The measured fixed charge density of the interlayer stack with the SiOxNy layer was used to estimate the sheet resistance of the frontside charge inversion layer and this sheet resistance could explain the bias light dependence of the collection outside the cell area. The fixed charge density was also used to simulate the excess carrier density dependence of effective surface recombination at the SiOxNy/c‐Si interface and these simulation results could explain the bias light dependence of the collection inside the cell area.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…As input parameters we used the measured fixed charge density Q f = 1.4 (±0.4) × 10 12 cm −2 and defect density N it = 4 (±3) · 10 11 cm −2 , based on the C–V measurements in Ref. . In AFORS‐HET, a 1 nm c‐Si defect layer, with a defect density of 4 (±3) × 10 18 cm −3 was used to simulate N it .…”

Section: Collection Outside the Cell Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the Frontside Charge Inversion Layer on the Minority Carrier Collection in Backside Contacted Liquid Phase Crystallized Silicon on Glass Solar Cells

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“…After drying the substrates with N 2 , a sputtered SiO 2 diffusion barrier with a thickness of 200 nm was deposited on the glass. A 70 nm sputtered SiN x was added as a field passivation layer and an antireflective coating (in superstrate configuration). A final 10 nm sputtered SiO 2 was deposited to reduce surface recombination .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of several parameters, e.g. optical design and defect passivation , on the solar cell performance have already been discussed. However the influence of the morphology of the multicrystalline Si thin‐films itself on the device characteristic remained so far unresolved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct correlation of microstructure and device performance of liquid phase crystallized Si thin film solar cells on glass

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et al. 2016

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Si thin films on glass grown by liquid phase crystallization (LPC) exhibit large grains resembling those in multicrystalline Si wafers. The present work gives direct insight into how planar defects in LPC‐Si thin films influence the device performance of the corresponding solar cells by acquiring electron‐backscatter diffraction maps and measuring solar cell parameters on the same identical positions. By this approach, it was possible to demonstrate how low scanning velocities of the laser line during the crystallization lead to lower densities of grain boundaries, to improved charge‐carrier diffusion lengths, and hence to improved device performances. Orientation‐distribution map acquired by electron backscatter diffraction on a Si thin film crystallized via liquid phase crystallization.

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“…So far, silicon oxide (abbreviated as SiO x ), silicon nitride (SiN x ), silicon oxynitride (SiO x N y ), silicon carbide (SiC x ), and aluminium oxide (Al 3 O 2 ) were used as interlayer material in LPC‐Si solar cells . The combination of these materials in multi‐layer stacks such as SiO x /SiN x /SiO x (O/N/O) or SiN x /SiO x /SiO x N y (N/O/ON) resulted in efficiencies of more than 13% (Figure ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Interface Engineering for Liquid‐Phase Crystallized‐Silicon Solar Cells on Glass

et al. 2017

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Liquid‐phase crystallization (LPC) of silicon is a suitable method to grow large grained poly‐crystalline silicon with wafer equivalent electronic quality on cheap glass substrates. Dielectric layers between glass and silicon (called interlayer) are not only crucial for the solar cell performance, but, they also provide wetting of the silicon during crystallization. So far, LPC‐Si samples based on interlayers grown with plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were annealed prior to crystallization to remove hydrogen in order to prevent delamination during crystallization. However, this step increases manufacturing time and disables integrated processing without extended vacuum breaks. In this work, PECVD‐grown stacks with silicon oxide and silicon nitride, that is, SiOx/SiNx/SiOx (O/N/O), were developed aiming a high cell performance and a successful crystallization without prior annealing step. We found that the SiNx layer significantly influences adhesion and that an O/N/O stack with a nitrogen‐rich SiNx layer in which hydrogen is only bonded to nitrogen, that is, no Si–H bonds, provides wetting without annealing step. The total amount of bonded hydrogen in the SiNx film was not crucial. Finally, based on the presented O/N/O stack, LPC‐Si solar cells with almost 630 mV open circuit voltage and a conversion efficiency of up to 13.2% were obtained.

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Interface passivation of liquid‐phase crystallized silicon on glass studied with high‐frequency capacitance–voltage measurements

Cited by 11 publications

References 34 publications

Influence of the Frontside Charge Inversion Layer on the Minority Carrier Collection in Backside Contacted Liquid Phase Crystallized Silicon on Glass Solar Cells

Influence of the Frontside Charge Inversion Layer on the Minority Carrier Collection in Backside Contacted Liquid Phase Crystallized Silicon on Glass Solar Cells

Direct correlation of microstructure and device performance of liquid phase crystallized Si thin film solar cells on glass

Interface Engineering for Liquid‐Phase Crystallized‐Silicon Solar Cells on Glass

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