Light-induced lifetime degradation in high-performance multicrystalline silicon: Detailed kinetics of the defect activation

Bredemeier, Dennis; Walter, Dominic; Schmidt, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2017.08.007

Cited by 58 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The measured activation energy for the degradation E a,AB lies in the order of ∼0.9-1.1 eV [34], [35], whereas E a,BA has to be much smaller, say in the order of ∼0.1 eV, as indicated by our measurements of the temperature dependence (see Fig. 10).…”

Section: A General Reactions and Equilibrium Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Of course, it is not unlikely that the reaction is more complex than implied by (8). For example, Bredemeier et al [34] reported that degradation could only be parameterized by the superposition of two exponential functions in their experiments, which could indicate a two-step mechanism. This would necessitate an extended set of rate equations similar to (6), which could be easily implemented at the cost of more unknown parameters.…”

Section: A General Reactions and Equilibrium Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temporary Recovery of the Defect Responsible for Light- and Elevated Temperature-Induced Degradation: Insights Into the Physical Mechanisms Behind LeTID

Kwapil

Schön

Niewelt

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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The effect of light-and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) can be nonpermanently reversed by charge carrier injection below the degradation temperature (commonly used degradation temperatures are above ∼70°C). In this study, we show that the rate of temporary recovery depends strongly on the excess carrier density. We observe that the order of the reaction changes from pseudo-zero to first with increasing injection. The rate decreases slightly with increasing temperature. Since the samples can go through multiple degradation/recovery cycles without distinct changes in the degradation kinetics, the experimentally accessible recovered and degraded states are interpreted as manifestations of the equilibrium concentrations of the defect responsible for LeTID at different temperatures. Based on our observations, we argue that the process underlying LeTID degradation is the dissociation of a precursor rather than an association of two or more components. In light of the relation between LeTID susceptibility and bulk hydrogen concentration, we hypothesize that the LeTID precursor dissociates into the LeTID defect and monatomic hydrogen. Numerical simulations of the coupled rate equations including hydrogen interactions well reproduce the experimental observations; according to these results, the presence of a sink for the atomic hydrogen such as dopant atoms is paramount for the LeTID degradation. Index Terms-Degradation, Defect reactions, light-and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID), model, silicon defects. I. INTRODUCTION A FTER the first description of the phenomenon later termed light-and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) [1], extensive research has been conducted on the influences determining the LeTID extent and kinetics. Noting the

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Section: A General Reactions and Equilibrium Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: A General Reactions and Equilibrium Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporary Recovery of the Defect Responsible for Light- and Elevated Temperature-Induced Degradation: Insights Into the Physical Mechanisms Behind LeTID

Kwapil

Schön

Niewelt

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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“…At such temperatures, the degradation is observed on time scales of several hundred hours of illumination; i.e., it proceeds rather slowly in comparison with other LID effects. Not surprisingly, the degradation can be significantly accelerated by using higher temperatures, as shown, e.g., by Bredemeier et al who determined the activation energy of the degradation process to be ~0.9 eV . Below a threshold of around 50°C, hardly any degradation is observed…”

Section: Multicrystalline Siliconmentioning

confidence: 89%

Understanding the light‐induced degradation at elevated temperatures: Similarities between multicrystalline and floatzone p‐type silicon

Niewelt

Schindler

Kwapil

et al. 2017

Progress in Photovoltaics

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This paper discusses degradation phenomena in crystalline silicon. We present new investigations of the light-and elevated temperature-induced degradation of multicrystalline silicon. The investigations provide insights into the defect parameters as well as the diffusivity and solubility of impurity species contributing to the defect. We discuss possible defect precursor species and can rule out several metallic impurities. We find that an involvement of hydrogen in the defect could explain the characteristic observations for light-and elevated temperature-induced degradation. Furthermore, we demonstrate analogies to the light-induced degradation mechanisms at elevated temperatures observed in floatzone silicon, where several experimental results also indicate an involvement of hydrogen in the defect. Based on the similarities between multicrystalline and floatzone silicon, we suggest that both degradation phenomena might be caused by the same or similar defects. As we do not expect large concentrations of metals in floatzone silicon, we suggest that complexes of hydrogen and a species introduced during crystal growth might cause both degradation phenomena.

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“…The normalized defect concentration (N t ) is proportional to the actual concentration (N defect ) [17]. The effective minority carrier lifetime before and after degradation are labeled as τ 0 and τ d , respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Thermal Treatment on Light-Induced Degradation of Multicrystalline Silicon PERC Solar Cell

Zhang

Peng

Qian³

et al. 2019

Energies

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Multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) PERC (passivated emitter and rear cell) solar cells suffer from severe light-induced degradation (LID), which mainly consists of two mechanisms, namely, BO-LID (boron–oxygen complex-related LID) and LeTID (light and elevated temperature induced degradation). The impact of thermal treatment on the LID of a mc-Si PERC solar cell is investigated in this work. The LID of mc-Si PERC solar cells could be alleviated by lowering the peak temperature of thermal treatment (namely sintering), perhaps because fewer impurities present in mc-Si tended to dissolve into interstitial atoms, which have the tendency to form LeTID-related recombination active complexes. The LID could also be effectively restrained by partially replacing the boron dopant with gallium, which is ascribed to the decreased amount of boron–oxygen (B–O) complexes. This work provides a facile way to solve the severe LID problem in mc-Si PERC solar cells in mass production.

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Light-induced lifetime degradation in high-performance multicrystalline silicon: Detailed kinetics of the defect activation

Cited by 58 publications

References 11 publications

Temporary Recovery of the Defect Responsible for Light- and Elevated Temperature-Induced Degradation: Insights Into the Physical Mechanisms Behind LeTID

Temporary Recovery of the Defect Responsible for Light- and Elevated Temperature-Induced Degradation: Insights Into the Physical Mechanisms Behind LeTID

Understanding the light‐induced degradation at elevated temperatures: Similarities between multicrystalline and floatzone p‐type silicon

The Impact of Thermal Treatment on Light-Induced Degradation of Multicrystalline Silicon PERC Solar Cell

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