Monitoring of the growth of microcrystalline silicon by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition using in‐situ Raman spectroscopy

Muthmann, Stefan; Köhler, Florian; Meier, Matthias; Hülsbeck, Markus; Carius, R.; Gordijn, A.

doi:10.1002/pssr.201105041

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…30,31 The Raman crystallinity was measured during the growth of the i-layer with a solid state Nd:YAG 532 nm laser. The information depth, which is probed by the laser, can be defined as the depth from which more than 2/e of the scattered Raman light originates.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 In the present paper, we investigate the microcrystalline silicon growth by the technique of in-situ Raman spectroscopy. 30 This method enables the monitoring of the Raman crystallinity during the deposition of the absorber layer. It is possible to adjust the Raman excitation laser under perpendicular incidence to the probed surface, because an optimized electric shielding of the optical feed through was achieved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interplay between crystallinity profiles and the performance of microcrystalline thin-film silicon solar cells studied by in-situ Raman spectroscopy

Fink

Muthmann

Mück

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Physics

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The intrinsic microcrystalline absorber layer growth in thin-film silicon solar-cells is investigated by in-situ Raman spectroscopy during plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. In-situ Raman spectroscopy enables a detailed study of the correlation between the process settings, the evolution of the Raman crystallinity in growth direction, and the photovoltaic parameters η (solar cell conversion efficiency), JSC (short circuit current density), FF (fill factor), and VOC (open circuit voltage). Raman spectra were taken every 7 nm of the absorber layer growth depending on the process settings. The Raman crystallinity of growing microcrystalline silicon was determined with an absolute error of approximately ±5% for total absorber layer thicknesses >50 nm. Due to this high accuracy, inherent drifts of the Raman crystallinity profiles are resolvable for almost the entire absorber layer deposition. For constant process settings and optimized solar cell device efficiency Raman crystallinity increases during the absorber layer growth. To compensate the inhomogeneous absorber layer growth process settings were adjusted. As a result, absorber layers with a constant Raman crystallinity profile — as observed in-situ — were deposited. Solar cells with those absorber layers show a strongly enhanced conversion efficiency by ∼0.5% absolute. However, the highest FF, VOC, and JSC were detected for solar cells with different Raman crystallinity profiles. In particular, fill factors of 74.5% were observed for solar cells with decreasing Raman crystallinity during the later absorber layer growth. In contrast, intrinsic layers with favorable JSC are obtained for constant and increasing Raman crystallinity profiles. Therefore, monitoring the evolution of the Raman crystallinity in-situ provides sufficient information for an optimization of the photovoltaic parameters with surpassing depth resolution.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interplay between crystallinity profiles and the performance of microcrystalline thin-film silicon solar cells studied by in-situ Raman spectroscopy

Fink

Muthmann

Mück

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Physics

Self Cite

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“…In-situ Raman measurements were performed during intrinsic layer growth with the measurement setup described in [17]. A solid state frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 532 nm was used for the Raman measurements.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, an in-situ Raman spectroscopy system was developed based on the implementation of an optical feed-through in the RF electrode of a PECVD reactor [17]. Accordingly, this is a method that enables to obtain information on the crystallinity of a growing film directly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-situ Raman spectroscopy used to study and control the initial growth phase of microcrystalline absorber layers for thin-film silicon solar cells

Muthmann

Köhler

Meier

et al. 2012

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

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“…In some cases, ex-situ Raman spectroscopy may yield a significantly different result compared to XRD measurement. 18 Presently, there has been growing interest in in-situ measurement including spectroscopic ellipsometry [5][6][7][8][9][10] and Raman spectroscopy 19 to track 0021-8979/2017/122(7)/075302/8/$30.00…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructure evolution of magnetron sputtered hydrogenated silicon thin films

Adhikari

Marsillac

Collins

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Physics

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Hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) thin films have been prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The effect of hydrogen gas concentration during sputtering on the resultant film structural and optical properties has been investigated by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD). The analysis of in-situ RTSE data collected during sputter deposition tracks the evolution of surface roughness and film bulk layer thickness with time. Growth evolution diagrams depicting amorphous, nanocrystalline, and mixed-phase regions for low and high deposition rate Si:H are constructed and the effects of process parameter (hydrogen gas concentration, total pressure, and RF power) variations on the deposition rate have been qualified. Virtual interface analysis of RTSE data provides nanocrystalline volume fraction depth profiles in the mixed-phase growth regime. GIXRD measurements show the presence of (111) and (220) oriented crystallites. Vibrational mode absorption features from Si-H n bonding configurations at 590, 640, 2000, and 2090 cm À1 are obtained by ex-situ infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry. Hydrogen incorporation decreases as films transition from amorphous to nanocrystalline phases with increasing hydrogen gas concentration during sputtering.

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Monitoring of the growth of microcrystalline silicon by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition using in‐situ Raman spectroscopy

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 publications

Interplay between crystallinity profiles and the performance of microcrystalline thin-film silicon solar cells studied by in-situ Raman spectroscopy

Interplay between crystallinity profiles and the performance of microcrystalline thin-film silicon solar cells studied by in-situ Raman spectroscopy

In-situ Raman spectroscopy used to study and control the initial growth phase of microcrystalline absorber layers for thin-film silicon solar cells

Nanostructure evolution of magnetron sputtered hydrogenated silicon thin films

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