Investigation of dielectric layers laser ablation mechanism on n-PERT silicon solar cells for (Ni) plating process: Laser impact on surface morphology, composition, electrical properties and metallization quality

Molto, Cécile; Lee, Jung Eun; Nekarda, Jan; Arya, Varun; Béchu, Solène; Bouttemy, Muriel; Etchéberry, Arnaud; Drahi, Etienne; Grand, P.; Gonçalves, Anne‐Marie

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110149

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The effect of the thermal annealing reverting the laser damage is in congruence with the experiments on PERC devices, [19] whereas similar effects have also been reported by Molto et al [20] This phenomenon can be explained by the thermal anneal-assisted recrystallization [22][23][24] of the amorphous-type silicon material, which is generated around the ablated spot due to the nature of interaction of silicon and picosecond laser pulses. [25,26] Raman scattering spectra performed by Marcins et al reveal amorphous silicon transforming to nearly fully crystallized poly-Si film after subjecting to the temperatures of 700-1100 C. [24] Hence, it is understandable that a similar mechanism is working here as well.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The samples were, thereafter, subjected to a thermal annealing process in a fast-firing oven (termed "FFO" in Figure 2) at the set peak temperatures of 820 C, as it has shown to reverse the laser damage and improve the lifetime of the cells. [19,20] After the FFO, they were subjected to the final round of calibrated PL measurements. The J 0 calibrated PLI images of the lasered samples were then subjected to field evaluation, using a custom built Python-based tool for automated analysis of multiple fields at the same time.…”

Section: Experiments Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The samples were, thereafter, subjected to a thermal annealing process in a fast‐firing oven (termed “FFO” in Figure 2) at the set peak temperatures of 820 °C, as it has shown to reverse the laser damage and improve the lifetime of the cells. [ 19,20 ] After the FFO, they were subjected to the final round of calibrated PL measurements.…”

Section: Experiments Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Laser Ablation and Ni/Cu Plating Approach for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contacts Solar Cells with Variate Polysilicon Layer Thickness: Gains and Possibilities in Comparison to Screen Printing

Arya

Steinhauser

Gruebel

et al. 2020

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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Recombination of photo-generated charge carriers at metalsemiconductor junctions is a strong limiting factor in achieving high efficiencies for conventional c-Si solar cells [e.g., aluminum back scatter field, passivated emitter rear contact (PERC), etc.]. [1-3] This can be reduced by squeezing the metallized area fraction, but that results in an increase of fill-factor (FF) loses. A novel approach developed at Fraunhofer ISE, namely, tunnel oxide passivated contacts (TOPCon), attempts to counter this effect by implementing passivating contact structures to drastically reduce metal-semiconductor junction recombination. [1,2,4] Passivated contact layers, such as TOPCon, constitute an ultrathin (1-2 nm) silicon oxide (SiO x) layer grown over the bulk c-Si, which is further deposited upon with a highly doped poly-Si layer and finally capped with SiN x. Together they provide excellent passivation, enabling high implied open circuit voltage (iV oc) [2] and carrier selectivity. [2,4] Furthermore, the depletion zone field generated due to high doping of poly-Si also contributes to the passivation effect. Passivating contacts are, therefore, considered to be the next major technological upgrade in the solar cell technology. [3,4] However, forming metal contacts on TOPCon is still a challenge that requires further investigation and improvements. Some commonly reported concerns pertaining to the conventional screen-printed metallization on TOPCon are 1) higher specific contact resistivity (1.5-10 Ω cm) on thick (>150 nm) poly-Si passivated contacts [5] and 2) increase of metal-induced recombination with decreasing thickness of poly-Si due to the metal spiking through the poly-Si and coming in contact with the bulk c-Si. [6] Spiking of the metal paste through the poly-Si layer drastically increases the J 0,met (recombination current at metal-silicon junction) due to poor shielding of recombination at metal contacts, resulting in a low open circuit voltage (V oc). [6] To prevent the penetration of fire-through metal pastes all the way through to the c-Si substrate, it becomes necessary either to keep the thickness of poly-Si above 120 nm or use low temperature metallization techniques. [7-10] However, a thicker poly-Si layer has two serious drawbacks-increased parasitic absorption and higher cost of ownership (COO). Parasitic absorption inflates with increasing poly-Si thickness, resulting in the loss of short circuit current (J sc), [6,11,12] whereas the COO calculations reveal a jump of around 75% if the poly-Si thickness is increased from 50 to 200 nm. [13] Hence, to keep the parasitic absorption and the cost

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Experiments Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experiments Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Laser Ablation and Ni/Cu Plating Approach for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contacts Solar Cells with Variate Polysilicon Layer Thickness: Gains and Possibilities in Comparison to Screen Printing

Arya

Steinhauser

Gruebel

et al. 2020

Physica Status Solidi (a)

Self Cite

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“…Atomic concentrations were manipulated and quantified using the CasaXPS (version 2.2.107) and PeakFit (version 4.12) data processing software. The surface atomic quantification was computed from corrected peak areas using sensitivity factors of ALThermo1 element library for the C1s, F1s, O1s, and S2p core level spectra 54,55 . The detailed chemical compositions of the samples at the top layers (ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological characterization of grafted polymer electrolyte membranes at a surface layer for fuel cell application

Hao

Tap

Hieu

et al. 2021

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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The morphology and elemental compositions at the surface of poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) grafted poly(ethylene‐co‐tetrafluoroethylene) polymer electrolyte membranes (ETFE‐PEMs) in a grafting degree (GD) range of 0%–127% are investigated by using FE‐SEM and XPS analyses. The concentrations of elemental components at the surface are not a linear function of GDs, resulting from different grafting speeds at the surface and bulk. In addition, low accumulation of PSSA grafts on the surface of ETFE‐PEMs in the low GDs of 0%–19%, as well as their homogeneous distribution through the membranes at least at a GD of 19% are observed. At higher GDs of 19%–127%, the PSSA accumulation on the surface is relatively limited, indicating the presence of more PSSA grafts inside the bulk than on the surface. The surface signatures of ETFE‐PEMs over the entire GD range can be determined based on the grafting process. These interesting observations suggest the significant advantages of interfacial properties of ETFE‐PEMs for fuel cell applications.

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Investigating the Application and Impact of Laser Etching Technology in the Fabrication of Solar Cells

Wang,

Cheng,

Wang

et al. 2024

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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The most crucial initial step in the metallization process of electroplating is the local contact openings in dielectric layers. In this article, an ultraviolet picosecond laser (UV‐ps), is used to open the front and back dielectric layer of the precursor of n‐TOPCon solar cells. By changing the laser parameters and spot overlap rate, the surface morphology of laser etching under different conditions is obtained and characterized by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The results indicate that there are three separate laser shock zones in the dielectric layer under the action of Gaussian light spot, and the corresponding ablation mechanisms are proposed. The longitudinal distribution of B element is characterized by secondary ion mass spectrometry to explore the effect of laser on its pn junction. In addition, the electrical characterization of lifetime photoluminescence is measured and calibrated using WCT120, and this indicates that the majority of the amorphous silicon is recrystallized when applying a fast firing oven process, and this hence improve the minority carrier lifetime and implied open‐circuit voltage. The laser damage to the emitter at the laser‐ablated regions is investigated using the emitter saturation current density, J0laser extracted by WCT120.

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Investigation of dielectric layers laser ablation mechanism on n-PERT silicon solar cells for (Ni) plating process: Laser impact on surface morphology, composition, electrical properties and metallization quality

Cited by 8 publications

References 28 publications

Laser Ablation and Ni/Cu Plating Approach for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contacts Solar Cells with Variate Polysilicon Layer Thickness: Gains and Possibilities in Comparison to Screen Printing

Laser Ablation and Ni/Cu Plating Approach for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contacts Solar Cells with Variate Polysilicon Layer Thickness: Gains and Possibilities in Comparison to Screen Printing

Morphological characterization of grafted polymer electrolyte membranes at a surface layer for fuel cell application

Investigating the Application and Impact of Laser Etching Technology in the Fabrication of Solar Cells

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