The relationship of structural properties of microcrystalline silicon to solar cell performance

Schicho, S.; Köhler, Florian; Carius, R.; Gordijn, A.

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2011.11.024

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The diffractometer also confirms the presence of silicon which is mainly crystallized, as evidenced by the (111) (at 28.4°) and (220) (at 47.3°) planes. Gao et al and Schicho et al found a last peak at 56.1° corresponding to the (311) planes, which is only slightly visible in our case. The spread peak at the beginning of the diffractometer could correspond to the plastic holder of the powder.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 63%

Silicon coating on very dense tungsten particles by fluidized bed CVD for nuclear application

Vanni

Caussat

Ablitzer

et al. 2015

Phys. Status Solidi A

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Tungsten particles were coated by silicon from silane (SiH4) at 645 °C using fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition (FB‐CVD). The coated particles were made from a surrogate tungsten powder and showed a median diameter (75 μm) and density (19,300 kg/m3). We studied the behavior of these tungsten particles due to their similarity with U(Mo) particles which are being investigated for use as fuel in research reactors. The results show that the fluidized bed's thermal gradient and pressure drop both increase as soon as silane is injected into the reactor. These phenomena are linked to the reactivity of silane and the very high density of the tungsten powder, and they represent a risk of bed agglomeration. A low inlet molar fraction of silane (0.5%) makes it possible to limit this risk. An increase in the fluidizing gas velocity and a decrease in the reactor diameter from 3.8 to 3.0 cm, have little impact on these phenomena for the operating range studied. Characterizations (EDX, SEM, XRD, etc.) show that all the tungsten particles are uniformly coated by a continuous film of silicon, mainly crystallized and of nodular morphology. The thickness of this silicon layers varies between 0.1 and 1 μm, which corresponds to the target. As the feasibility of the coating has been demonstrated, new experiments are in progress with fissile particles.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 63%

Silicon coating on very dense tungsten particles by fluidized bed CVD for nuclear application

Vanni

Caussat

Ablitzer

et al. 2015

Phys. Status Solidi A

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“…For the amorphous phase, the first two halos centered at 27 and 47° were summed as I a = I 27° + I 47° . This approach has been applied before on microcrystalline silicon samples with XRD data taken in grazing incidence and in the Bragg–Brentano configuration . For the analysis of texture, integrated peak intensities were compared to each other, relative to the zincblende InP powder diffraction standard (ICDD 17 04‐004‐1833).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructural evolution of a recrystallized Fe-implanted InGaAsP/InP heterostructure

Fekecs

Korinek

Chicoine

et al. 2015

Phys. Status Solidi A

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Through the recrystallization of an amorphous heterostructure, obtained by MeV Fe ion implantation, we are able to tailor a standard epitaxial semiconductor material, a small gap InGaAsP/InP alloy, for photoconductive terahertz optoelectronics. Here, we report on microstructural changes occurring in the material over a broad range of rapid thermal annealing temperatures, using X‐ray diffraction line profile analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Results show a complete amorphous transition of the heterostructure after multiple‐energy implantations done at 83 K. Upon thermal annealing, multiple structural layers develop via solid phase epitaxy and solid phase recrystallization. The photoconductive InGaAsP layer becomes polycrystalline and submicron grained, with high crystalline volume fraction and apparent ⟨110⟩ texture. Many grains are elongated and internally faulted, with high densities of planar faults occurring on closed‐packed (111) planes. The X‐ray diffraction line broadening is anisotropic and evolves with rapid thermal annealing temperatures. At 500 °C, the X‐ray coherent domain size estimate of 10 nm is aligned reasonably with electron microscopy made in faulted areas. Above 500 °C, a significant decrease of the planar fault density is detected. We discuss the influence of these microstructural changes happening with recrystallization temperatures on the ultrafast photoconductive response of Fe‐implanted InGaAsP/InP.

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“…As substrate temperature increases from 100 to 300°C, X C increases from *49.2 % to *61.0 %. It was reported that lc-Si:H thin-film solar cells with intrinsic absorber layer at the transition region usually exhibit an optimal performance, and the crystalline fraction of lc-Si:H thin films deposited by PECVD at transition condition often falls in the range of 40 %-60 % [6,23]. It can be said, therefore, that all lcSi:H thin films obtained here have a suitable crystallinity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…There are a variety of deposition techniques used to prepare lc-Si:H thin films, such as hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) [4,5], plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) [1,6] and magnetron sputtering [7][8][9]. The magnetron sputtering process is a good alternative because it has a capability for large area deposition and process controllability, and, especially, it is a safe process not using toxic and explosive gases [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and properties of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with different substrate temperatures

Wang

Huang

et al. 2015

Rare Met.

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Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (lcSi:H) thin films were deposited by an radio frequency (RF) (13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures (100-300°C), and the influences of substrate temperature on the growth and properties of lc-Si:H thin films were investigated. Surface roughness and crystallinity of the thin films increase as substrate temperature increases. And all thin films are at the transition region (X c = 49.2 %*61.0 %). The lc-Si:H thin films deposited at lower substrate temperature (B200°C) represent a weak (220) preferred orientation, while the thin films deposited at higher substrate temperature (C250°C) exhibit a weak (111) preferred orientation. The lc-Si:H thin films have a dense structure, and the structural compactness of the thin films slightly increases with substrate temperature increasing. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results indicate that the lc-Si:H thin films have a low hydrogen content (3.9 at%-5.6 at%), which is in favor of reducing light-induced degradation effect.

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The relationship of structural properties of microcrystalline silicon to solar cell performance

Cited by 16 publications

References 30 publications

Silicon coating on very dense tungsten particles by fluidized bed CVD for nuclear application

Silicon coating on very dense tungsten particles by fluidized bed CVD for nuclear application

Microstructural evolution of a recrystallized Fe-implanted InGaAsP/InP heterostructure

Growth and properties of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with different substrate temperatures

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