Microcrystalline silicon–oxygen alloys for application in silicon solar cells and modules

Lambertz, Andreas; Smirnov, Vladimir; Merdzhanova, Tsvetelina; Ding, Kaining; Haas, Sabine; Jost, G.; Schropp, R.E.I.; Finger, F.; Rau, Uwe

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2013.05.053

Cited by 106 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…[22][23][24] Recent studies have also shown that the refractive index and conductivity can be tuned almost independently of each over a wide range. 25 The nanocrystalline silicon growth during PECVD is usually explained by the competition and/or interaction of three distinct mechanisms. Atomic hydrogen, which is usually present in large quantities due to the high dissociation degree and large partial pressure (usually >95%) of H 2 , plays the key role in three all growth mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiOx layers for application in solar cells

Klingsporn

Kirner

Villringer

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Physics

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Nanocrystalline silicon suboxides (nc-SiO x ) have attracted attention during the past years for the use in thin-film silicon solar cells. We investigated the relationships between the nanostructure as well as the chemical, electrical, and optical properties of phosphorous, doped, nc-SiO 0.8 :H fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nanostructure was varied through the sample series by changing the deposition pressure from 533 to 1067 Pa. The samples were then characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and a specialized plasmon imaging method. We found that the material changed with increasing pressure from predominantly amorphous silicon monoxide to silicon dioxide containing nanocrystalline silicon. The nanostructure changed from amorphous silicon filaments to nanocrystalline silicon filaments, which were found to cause anisotropic electron transport. Published by AIP Publishing. [http://dx

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiOx layers for application in solar cells

Klingsporn

Kirner

Villringer

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…In particular, doped microcrystalline silicon oxide (μc-SiO x :H) is a material which has gained scientific interest because of it having a reduced optical absorption and low refractive index, while still generating sufficient built-in potential across the absorber layer for electron-hole separation [5][6][7][8]. It has been demonstrated that it is possible to control the refractive index (n) of undoped and doped μc-SiO x :H in the range from 1.8-3.6 [9][10][11] and that these layers can be designed for several functions in thin film silicon solar cells, namely as a doped layer or as an intermediate reflector layer (IRL) [12]. a e-mail: prabal.goyal@polytechnique.edu Table 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of hexamethyldisiloxane for p-type microcrystalline silicon oxycarbide layers

et al. 2016

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The use of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as an oxygen source for the growth of p-type siliconbased layers deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition is evaluated. The use of this source led to the incorporation of almost equivalent amounts of oxygen and carbon, resulting in microcrystalline silicon oxycarbide thin films. The layers were examined with characterisation techniques including Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Dark Conductivity, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Transmission Electron Microscopy to check material composition and structure. Materials studies show that the refractive indices of the layers can be tuned over the range from 2.5 to 3.85 (measured at 600 nm) and in-plane dark conductivities over the range from 10 −8 S/cm to 1 S/cm, suggesting that these doped layers are suitable for solar cell applications. The p-type layers were tested in single junction amorphous silicon p-i-n type solar cells.

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“…Depending on the requirements of the specific function, the optoelectronic properties, characterized by E 04 , n, and  D , have to be adjusted [22]. We achieved this by changing the SC and r CO2 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 b). The exact deposition parameters for the a-SiC:H, a-Si:H and µc-Si:H layers can be found in [9,10,13,22].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Versatility of doped nanocrystalline silicon oxide for applications in silicon thin-film and heterojunction solar cells

Richter

Smirnov

Lambertz

et al. 2018

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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To optimize the optical response of a solar cell, specifically designed materials with appropriate optoelectronic properties are needed. Owing to the unique microstructure of doped nanocrystalline silicon oxide, nc-SiO x :H, this material is able to cover an extensive range of optical and electrical properties. However, applying nc-SiO x :H thin-films in photovoltaic devices necessitates an individual adaptation of the material properties according to the specific functions in the device. In this study, we investigated the detailed microstructure of doped nc-SiO x :H films via atom probe tomography at the sub-nm scale, thereby, for the first time, revealing the three-dimensional distribution of the nc-Si network. Furthermore, n-and p-type nc-SiO x :H layers with various optical and electrical properties were implemented as a window, back contact, and an intermediate reflector layer in silicon heterojunction and multi-junction thin-film solar cells with a focus on the key aspects for adapting the material properties to the specific functions. Here, nc-SiO x :H effectively reduced the parasitic absorption and opened new possibilities for the photon management in the solar cells, thereby, demonstrating the versatility of this material. Remarkably, using our adapted nc-SiO x :H layers in distinct functions enabled us to achieve a combined short circuit current density of 15.1 mA cm -2 for the two a-Si:H sub-cells in an a-Si:H/a-Si:H/µc-Si:H triplejunction thin-film solar cell and an active area efficiency of 21.4 % was realized for a silicon heterojunction solar cell.2

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Microcrystalline silicon–oxygen alloys for application in silicon solar cells and modules

Cited by 106 publications

References 44 publications

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiOx layers for application in solar cells

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiOx layers for application in solar cells

Use of hexamethyldisiloxane for p-type microcrystalline silicon oxycarbide layers

Versatility of doped nanocrystalline silicon oxide for applications in silicon thin-film and heterojunction solar cells

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