IR characterization of hydrogen in crystalline silicon solar cells

Stavola, Michael; Kleekajai, Suppawan; Wen, Lanlin; Peng, Chao; Yelundur, Vijay; Rohatgi, A.; Carnel, L.; Kalejs, J.P.

doi:10.1016/j.physb.2009.08.226

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…An economical and widely used method to introduce H is the post-deposition annealing of an amorphous silicon nitride layer [19,20]. Such layers are commonly used as anti-reflection coating and front surface passivation for crystalline silicon solar cells.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of high-temperature treatment on the hydrogen distribution in silicon oxynitride/silicon nitride stacks for crystalline silicon surface passivation

Schwab

Hofmann

Heller

et al. 2013

Phys. Status Solidi A

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This work investigates a double layer stack system that can be used for surface passivation of crystalline silicon. The stack consists of amorphous silicon-rich silicon oxynitride and amorphous silicon nitride on top. Both layers are fabricated by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition. We investigate the stack in terms of changes in the hydrogen content and distribution within the different stack layers due to a high temperature treatment. For that purpose the stack is studied by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy and nuclear reaction analysis before and after fast firing at 850°C. Our results determine the bottom silicon oxynitride layer as very hydrogen-rich. Furthermore, we identify the silicon nitride capping layer as diffusion barrier to atomic hydrogen but still allowing an effusion of molecular hydrogen. We present a qualitative model that explains our findings and distinguishes between atomic and molecular hydrogen

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of high-temperature treatment on the hydrogen distribution in silicon oxynitride/silicon nitride stacks for crystalline silicon surface passivation

Schwab

Hofmann

Heller

et al. 2013

Phys. Status Solidi A

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“…The improvement of the IQE and electrical International Journal of Photoenergy 5 performances is attributed to the excellent hydrogen passivation, which suppress the SRH recombination near the surface of diffused emitter. In the process of SiN x :H deposition by PECVD, a large number of hydrogen atoms were generated in SiN x :H film, which can migrate into silicon to form the Si-H bonds after a thermal treatment, decrease the surface defect state density, and suppress the SRH recombination effectively [17][18][19][20]. In the process of metal electrode alloying the silicon wafer temperature is close to 800 ∘ C; this process performs the role of thermal treatment [18].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective Passivation of Large Area Black Silicon Solar Cells bySiO2/SiNx:H Stacks

Zhao

Zhang

et al. 2014

International Journal of Photoenergy

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The performance of black silicon solar cells with various passivation films was characterized. Large area (156×156 mm2) black silicon was prepared by silver-nanoparticle-assisted etching on pyramidal silicon wafer. The conversion efficiency of black silicon solar cell without passivation is 13.8%. For the SiO2andSiNx:H passivation, the conversion efficiency of black silicon solar cells increases to 16.1% and 16.5%, respectively. Compared to the single film of surface passivation of black silicon solar cells, the SiO2/SiNx:H stacks exhibit the highest efficiency of 17.1%. The investigation of internal quantum efficiency (IQE) suggests that the SiO2/SiNx:H stacks films decrease the Auger recombination through reducing the surface doping concentration and surface state density of the Si/SiO2interface, andSiNx:H layer suppresses the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination in the black silicon solar cell, which yields the best electrical performance of b-Si solar cells.

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“…The concentrations in the bulk are often too low to be detected, e.g., using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) even when hydrogen is substituted with deuterium (D) for increased sensitivity. 27 Diatomic forms of hydrogen, which are often electrically and optically inactive, are energetically preferable compared to monatomic forms. [28][29][30][31][32] Thus, only a fraction of hydrogen in silicon is represented by the monatomic hydrogen.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogen-related defects measured by infrared spectroscopy in multicrystalline silicon wafers throughout an illuminated annealing process

Weiser

Monakhov

Haug

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Physics

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Hydrogen (H) is thought to be strongly involved in the light and elevated temperature-induced degradation observed predominantly in p-type silicon wafers, but the nature of the defect or defects involved in this process is currently unknown. We have used infrared (IR) spectroscopy to detect the vibrational signatures due to the H-B, H-Ga, and H 2 *(C) defects in thin, hydrogenated, p-type multicrystalline silicon wafers after increasing the optical path length by preparation and polishing the edges of a stack of wafers. The concentrations of the H-B and H-Ga acceptor complexes are reduced to 80% of their starting values after low intensity (5 mW/cm 2) illumination at room temperature for 96 h. Subsequent high intensity illumination (70 mW/cm 2) at 150°C for 7-8 h further decreases the concentrations of these defects; to ∼40% (H-B) and ∼50% (H-Ga) of their starting values. Our results show that, with careful sample preparation, IR spectroscopy can be used in conjunction with other techniques, e.g., quasisteady-state photoconductance, to investigate the involvement of different H-related point defects on degradation in solar-grade silicon wafers.

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IR characterization of hydrogen in crystalline silicon solar cells

Cited by 7 publications

References 26 publications

Effects of high-temperature treatment on the hydrogen distribution in silicon oxynitride/silicon nitride stacks for crystalline silicon surface passivation

Effects of high-temperature treatment on the hydrogen distribution in silicon oxynitride/silicon nitride stacks for crystalline silicon surface passivation

Effective Passivation of Large Area Black Silicon Solar Cells bySiO2/SiNx:H Stacks

Hydrogen-related defects measured by infrared spectroscopy in multicrystalline silicon wafers throughout an illuminated annealing process

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