Nanoimprinted Tio<sub>2</sub> sol–gel passivating diffraction gratings for solar cell applications

Barbé, Jérémy; Thomson, Andrew; Wang, Er‐Chien; McIntosh, Keith R.; Catchpole, Kylie

doi:10.1002/pip.1131

Cited by 40 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In general, the surface passivation mechanisms of TiO 2 on c‐Si are still under investigation. Band bending, negative charges density in the TiO x film, presence of SiO 2 ‐like interface layer whether grown intentionally or generated via diffusion of O atoms from TiO x to c‐Si, and hydrogenation all are the most‐likely mechanisms for the surface passivation of c‐Si with TiO x . However, one of the most well‐documented methods to achieve improved surface passivation and high efficiency with TiO x dielectric is the insertion of SiO 2 ‐like interface layer at c‐Si/TiO x boundary .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Dwivedi

Yeo

Tan

et al. 2018

Adv Funct Materials

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Metal oxides (MOs) are used in photovoltaics and microelectronics as surface passivating layers and gate dielectrics, respectively. The effectiveness of MOs predominantly depends on their structure and the nature of the semiconductor/MO (S/MO) interface. While some efforts are made to analyze interface behavior of a few MOs, greater fundamental understanding on the interface and structural behaviors of emerging MOs is yet to be established for enhanced scientific and technological developments. Here, the structure of atomic layer deposited titanium oxide (TiO x ) and the nature of the c-Si/ TiO x interface on the atomic-to nanoscale are probed. A new breed of mixed oxide (SiO x +TiO x ) interfacial layer with a thickness of ≈1.3 nm at the c-Si/ TiO x interface is discovered, and its thickness further increases to ≈1.5 nm after postdeposition annealing. It is observed that both as-deposited and annealed monolithic TiO x films comprise multiple bonding states at varying film thickness, with an oxygen-deficient TiO x layer located close to the mixed oxide/TiO x interface. The stoichiometry of this layer improves when reaching the middle and near surface regions of the TiO x layer, respectively. This work uncovers several critical structural and interface aspects of TiO x , and thus creates opportunities to control and design improved photovoltaic and electronic devices for future development.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Dwivedi

Yeo

Tan

et al. 2018

Adv Funct Materials

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“…Therefore, electrons can pass through a TiO x layer whereas holes are repelled off from the heterojunction . Previously, it has been reported that TiO x layers can be deposited on c‐Si by several techniques such as chemical vapor deposition and spin coating . Among them, ALD‐TiO x thin layers have been intensely investigated since it functions as a good passivation layer for c‐Si surface due to the low deposition damage to c‐Si surface and the ability to fabricate sub 5 nm thick films.…”

Section: Influence Of the Siox Interlayers Prepared By Different Chemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Structure of High Performance TiO_x Electron‐Selective Contact Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Mochizuki

Gotoh

Kurokawa

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Inter

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“…section 3.4), which we estimate from a one-diode model to about Δ , ≈ 3 . Therefore, the increased Voc of silicon thin-film solar cells on SMART superstrates might be attributed to passivation properties of the TiOx layer, which are already known from literature [27][28][29][30]. However, further investigations are needed in order to elucidate this hypothesis, e.g.…”

Section: Materials Qualitymentioning

confidence: 86%

Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass

Eisenhauer

Köppel

Jäger

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Recently, liquid phase crystallization of thin silicon films has emerged as a candidate for thin-film photovoltaics. On 10 μm thin absorbers, wafer-equivalent morphologies and open-circuit voltages were reached, leading to 13.2% record efficiency. However, short-circuit current densities are still limited, mainly due to optical losses at the glass-silicon interface. While nano-structures at this interface have been shown to efficiently reduce reflection, up to now these textures caused a deterioration of electronic silicon material quality. Therefore, optical gains were mitigated due to recombination losses. Here, the SMooth Anti-Reflective Three-dimensional (SMART) texture is introduced to overcome this trade-off. By smoothing nanoimprinted SiOx nano-pillar arrays with spin-coated TiOx layers, light in-coupling into laser-crystallized silicon solar cells is significantly improved as successfully demonstrated in three-dimensional simulations and in experiment. At the same time, electronic silicon material quality is equivalent to that of planar references, allowing to reach V oc values above 630 mV. Furthermore, the short-circuit current density could be increased from 21.0 mA cm−2 for planar reference cells to 24.5 mA cm−2 on SMART textures, a relative increase of 18%. External quantum efficiency measurements yield an increase for wavelengths up to 700 nm compared to a state-of-the-art solar cell with 11.9% efficiency, corresponding to a jsc, EQE gain of 2.8 mA cm−2.

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Nanoimprinted Tio₂ sol–gel passivating diffraction gratings for solar cell applications

Cited by 40 publications

References 22 publications

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Local Structure of High Performance TiO_x Electron‐Selective Contact Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass

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Nanoimprinted Tio2 sol–gel passivating diffraction gratings for solar cell applications

Cited by 40 publications

References 22 publications

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiOx) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiOx

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiOx) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiOx

Local Structure of High Performance TiOx Electron‐Selective Contact Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass

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Product

Resources

About

Nanoimprinted Tio₂ sol–gel passivating diffraction gratings for solar cell applications

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Evidence for Chemicals Intermingling at Silicon/Titanium Oxide (TiO_x) Interface and Existence of Multiple Bonding States in Monolithic TiO_x

Local Structure of High Performance TiO_x Electron‐Selective Contact Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy