Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon p-layer in amorphous silicon n–i–p solar cells

This paper describes an investigation into the impacts of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) p-layer on the photovoltaic parameters, especially on the open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of n–i–p type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses indicate that this p-layer is a diphasic material that contains nanocrystalline grains with size around 3–5 nm embedded in an amorphous silicon matrix. Optical transmission measurements show that the nc-Si:H p-layer has a wide band gap of 1.9 eV. Using this nanocrystalline p-layer in n–i–p a-Si:H solar cells, the cell performances were improved with a V_oc of 1.042 V, whereas the solar cells deposited under similar conditions but incorporating a hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) p-layer exhibit a V_oc of 0.526 V.     

Optimization of interface structures in crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

In heterojunction solar cells consisting of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si), suppression of epitaxial growth at the heterointerface is found to be crucial to achieve high solar cell efficiencies. In order to avoid the epitaxial growth, wide-gap hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO:H) has been applied to the heterojunction solar cells. We have fabricated a-SiO:H/c-Si solar cells using n-type and p-type c-Si substrates and demonstrated that incorporation of the a-SiO:H i layer prevents the harmful epitaxial growth at the heterointerface completely.     

Cell structures with low-high heterojunction of c-Si and μc-Si: H under rear contact for improvement of efficiencies

For a remarkable improvement of conversion efficiencies of single-crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, we have been investigating rear surface structures. The structure has a highly conductive boron (B) doped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) film with a wide optical bandgap between a p-type c-Si substrate and a rear contact instead of a heavily diffused layer. The conditions of depositing the μc-Si:H film were investigated. Both short-circuit current density (J_sc) and open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of the cell with the μc-Si:H film are much higher than those without the film. The V_oc obtained was higher than 650 mV and the efficiency was 19.6% for a 5 cm × 5 cm cell. It is confirmed that a low-high heterojunction of the c-Si substrate and the μc-Si:H film is very effective in preventing minority carriers near the rear contact from recombining.     

Fabrication of microcrystalline silicon solar cells on a SnO2 coated substrate using seed layer insertion

We fabricated hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cells on SnO₂ coated glass using a seed layer insertion technique. Since rich hydrogen atoms from the μc-Si:H deposition process degrade the SnO₂ layer, we applied p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (p-a-Si:H) as a window layer. To grow the μc-Si:H layer on the p-a-Si:H window layer, we developed a seed layer insertion method. We inserted the seed layer between the p-a-Si:H layer and intrinsic bulk μc-Si:H. This seed layer consists of a thin hydrogen diluted silicon buffer layer and a naturally hydrogen profiled layer. We compared the characteristics of solar cells with and without the seed layer. When the seed layer was not applied, the fabricated cell showed the characteristics of a-Si:H solar cell whose spectral response was in a range of 400-800 nm. Using the seed layer, we achieved a μc-Si:H solar cell with performance of V_oc=0.535 V, J_sc=16.0 mA/cm², FF=0.667, and conversion efficiency=5.7% without any back reflector. The spectral response was in the range of 400-1100 nm. Also, the fabricated device has little substrate dependence, because a-Si:H has weaker substrate selectivity than μc-Si:H.     

Interface effects on the carrier transport and photovoltaic properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon solar cells

Current-voltage-temperature (I-V-T) characteristics evaluated near 150K and 300K were used to study the photovoltaic property variations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. The possible carrier transport mechanisms in such devices were examined from the I-V-T data which indicated a significant influence of the amorphous /crystalline interface on the short-circuit current density (J_sc) and open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of the solar cells. Carrier transport near 300K for forward biases was by a multi-tunneling mechanism and became space charge limited with increasing bias. For devices having low J_sc and V_oc an additional region was seen in both forward and reverse biases, at low temperatures, where the current simply varied linearly with the applied bias. This characteristic manifested in both high and low temperatures region for devices with still lower photovoltaic properties, which has been reasoned to be due to a higher interface density. Passivating the c-Si surface with HF just prior to the amorphous layer deposition resulted in a large improvement in the properties. The most significant effect was on the J_sc which improved by an order of magnitude. The treatment also affected the lower temperature I-V-T data in that the current fell to very low levels. The spectral response of the treated solar cells showed enhanced blue/violet response compared with the unpassivated devices. The interface passivation plus reducing a-Si thickness has improved the solar cell efficiency from 0.39% to 9.5%.     

Nanocrystalline silicon thin films deposited by high-frequency sputtering at low temperature

Intrinsic and n-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films (nc-Si:H) were deposited at a temperature as low as 95 °C by high-frequency (HF) sputtering, with hydrogen dilution percentage varying from 31% to 73%. In order to study the properties of the films prepared by this method, the samples were examined by infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), laser Raman spectrometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD measurements showed that this film has a new microstructure, which is different from the films deposited by other methods. In addition, an n-type nc-Si:H/p-type c-Si heterojunction solar cell, which has an open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 370 MV and a short-circuit current intensity (J_sc) of 6.5 mA/cm², was produced on the nanocrystalline silicon thin film. After 10 h light exposure under AM1.5 (100 MW/cm²) light intensity at room temperature, radiation degradation has not been found for the device.     

Laser fired contacts applied to the rear surface of heterojunction silicon solar cells

In this work, we fabricate heterojunction silicon solar cells on p-type substrates whose rear surface configuration is based on dielectric passivation and laser fired contacts (LFC cells). This is an alternative to boron-doped amorphous silicon film, with which we also fabricate solar cells for direct comparison (HJ cells). As substrates, 3.5 and 0.8 Ω cm p-type double-side polished FZ c-Si wafers are used. Regarding surface passivation for highly doped substrates, LFC configuration has some advantage due to the higher difficulty in creating an efficient amorphous back surface field. Additionally, those substrates are also more advantageous in terms of carrier injection when the rear surface is locally contacted. Thus LFC cells made on 0.8 Ω cm substrates reach V_oc values up to 680 mV, in the same range as that of their HJ cell counterpart, with better FF demonstrating that LFC configuration is a feasible alternative for highly doped substrates. Focusing on the impact of the distance between rear contacts on cell performance, we found a trade-off between open circuit voltage V_oc and fill factor FF. Finally electroluminescence characterization and the dependence of V_oc on pitch, modeled by Fischer's equation, indicate that the depassivated area due to the laser processing of the contacts is bigger than the contacted area.     

Amorphous silicon/p-type crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

We have investigated the photovoltaic (PV) characteristics of both glow discharge deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) on crystalline silicon (c-Si) in a n⁺ a-Si:H/undoped a-Si:H/p c-Si type structure, and DC magnetron sputtered a-Si:H in a n-type a-Si:H/p c-Si type solar cell structure. It was found that the PV properties of the solar cells were influenced very strongly by the a-Si/c-Si interface. Properties of strongly interface limited devices were found to be independent of a-Si thickness and c-Si resistivity. A hydrofluoric acid passivation prior to RF glow discharge deposition of a-Si:H increases the short circuit current density from 2.57 to 25.00 mA/cm² under 1 sun conditions.DC magnetron sputtering of a-Si:H in a Ar/H₂ ambient was found to be a controlled way of depositing n type a-Si:H layers on c-Si for solar cells and also a tool to study the PV response with a-Si/c-Si interface variations. 300 Å a-Si sputtered onto 1–10 ω cm p-type c-Si resulted in 10.6% efficient solar cells, without an A/R coating, with an open circuit voltage of 0.55 V and a short circuit current density of 30 mA/cm² over a 0.3 cm² area. High frequency capacitance-voltage measurements indicate good junction characteristics with zero bias depletion width in c-Si of 0.65 μm. The properties of the devices have been investigated over a wide range of variables like substrate resistivity, a-Si thickness, and sputtering power. The processing has focused on identifying and studying the conditions that result in an improved a-Si/c-Si interface that leads to better PV properties.     

Study on hydrogenated silicon nitride for application of high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

The hydrogenated silicon nitride films (SiN_x:H) deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique is commonly used as an antireflection coating as well as surface passivating layer of crystalline silicon solar cells. The refractive indices of SiN_x:H films could be changed by varying the growth gas ratio R(=NH₃/SiH₄+NH₃) and annealing temperature. For optimum SiN_x:H film, the optical and chemical characterization tools by varying the film deposition and annealing condition were employed in this study. Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices were fabricated using SiN_x:H as an insulator layer and they were subjected to capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements for electrical characterization. The effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the surface passivation as well as antireflection properties of the SiN_x:H films deposited at various process conditions were also investigated for the fabrication of low cost and high efficiency silicon solar cells.     

Low temperature deposition of high open-circuit voltage (>1.0 V) p-i-n type amorphous silicon solar cells

P-i-n type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells were deposited by the radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) process at a low substrate temperature of 125 °C, which is compatible with low-cost poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastic substrates. Wide band gap (E_opt>1.88 eV) intrinsic a-Si:H films were achieved before the onset of the microcrystalline regime by changing the hydrogen dilution ratios. On the other hand, the structural, optical and electrical properties of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (p-a-SiC:H) window layers have been optimized at 125 °C. High quality p-a-SiC:H film with high optical band gap (E₀₄=2.02 eV) and high conductivity (σ_d=1.0×10⁻⁷ S/cm) was deposited at ‘low-power regime’ under low silane flow rates and high H₂ dilution conditions. With the combination of wide band gap p-a-SiC:H window layers and intrinsic a-Si:H layers, a high V_oc of 1.01 V (efficiency=5.51%, FF=0.72, J_sc=7.58 mA/cm²) was obtained for single junction a-Si:H p-i-n solar cell at a low temperature of 125 °C. Finally, flexible a-Si:H solar cell on PET substrate with efficiency of 4.60% (V_oc=0.98 V, FF=0.69, J_sc=6.82 mA/cm²) was obtained.     

Material properties of microcrystalline silicon for solar cell application

The paper reviews the material requirements of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) in terms of the device operation and configuration for thin film solar cells and thin film transistors (TFTs). We investigated the material properties of μc-Si films deposited by using 13.56 MHz plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from a conventional H₂ dilution in SiH₄. Two types of intrinsic μc-Si films deposited at the high pressure narrow electrode gap and the low pressure wide electrode gap were studied for the solar cell absorption layers. The material properties were characterized using dark conductivity, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. The μc-Si quality and solar cell performance were mainly determined by microstructure characteristics. Solar cells adopting the optimized μc-Si film demonstrated high stability with no significant changes in solar cell performance after air exposure for six months and subsequent illumination for over 300 h. The results can be explained that low ion bombardment and high atomic hydrogen density under the PECVD condition of the high pressure narrow electrode gap produce high-quality μc-Si films for solar cell application.     

Efficiency limits for single-junction and tandem solar cells

Basic limitations of single-junction and tandem p–n and p–i–n diodes are established from thermodynamical considerations on radiative recombination and semi-empirical considerations on the classical diode equations. These limits are compared to actual values of short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, fill factor and efficiency for amorphous (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline (μc-Si:H) silicon solar cells. For single-junction cells, major efficiency gains should be achievable by increasing the short-circuit current density by better light trapping. The limitations of p–i–n junctions are estimated from recombination effects in the intrinsic layer. The efficiency of double-junction cells is presented as a function of the energy gap of top and bottom cells, confirming the ‘micromorph’ tandem (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H) as an optimum combination of tandem solar cells.     

Microcrystalline silicon solar cell using p-a-Si:H window layer deposited by photo-CVD method

A p-a-Si:H layer, deposited by a photo-assisted chemical vapor deposition (photo-CVD) method, was adopted as the window layer of a hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) solar cell instead of the conventional p-μc-Si:H layer. We verified the usefulness of p-a-Si:H for the p-layer of the μc-Si:H solar cell by applying it to SnO₂-coated glass substrate. It was found that the quantum efficiency (QE) characteristics and solar cell performance strongly depend on the p-a-Si:H layer thicknesses. We applied boron-doped nanocrystalline silion (nc-Si:H) p/i buffer layers to μc-Si:H solar cells and investigated the correlation of the p/i buffer layer B₂H₆ flow rate and solar cell performance. When the B₂H₆ flow rate was 0.2 sccm, there was a little improvement in fill factor (FF), but the other parameters became poor as the B₂H₆ flow rate increased. This is because the conductivity of the buffer layer decreases as the B₂H₆ flow rate increases above appropriate values. A μc-Si:H single-junction solar cell with ZnO/Ag back reflector with an efficiency of 7.76% has been prepared.     

Photo- and electro-luminescence of a-Si:H and mixed-phase alloys

In this paper, we review recent work on photoluminescence in the transition materials from hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) to microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) and silicon-germanium alloy (a-SiGe:H). Also, the electroluminescence is reviewed as transport-controlled recombination. We focus on the new materials such as hydrogen-diluted a-Si:H, a-Si:H prepared by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition, high-growth rate films, and the new findings concerning the electronic structure in relation to the material microstructures and to the solar cell performance such as open voltage (V_oc).     

Flexible amorphous and microcrystalline silicon tandem solar modules in the temporary superstrate concept

Encapsulated and series-connected amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) based thin film silicon solar modules were developed in the superstrate configuration using an aluminum foil as temporary substrate during processing and a commodity polymer as permanent substrate in the finished module. For the development of μc-Si:H single junction modules, aspects regarding TCO conductivity, TCO reduction, deposition uniformity, substrate temperature stability and surface morphology were addressed. It was established that on sharp TCO morphologies where single junction μc-Si:H solar cells fail, tandem structures consisting of an a-Si:H top cell and a μc-Si:H bottom cell can still show a good performance. Initial aperture area efficiencies of 8.2%, 3.9% and 9.4% were obtained for fully encapsulated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) single junction, microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) single junction and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem junction modules, respectively.     

ZnO interface layer and CO2 plasma treatment for improving efficiency of micromorph silicon solar cells

We have developed zinc oxide (ZnO) film and CO₂ plasma treatment for the use as an intermediate layer between top and bottom cell in order to improve performance of micromorph silicon solar cells. The CO₂ plasma treatment was performed by very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF PECVD) technique, and the ZnO interface layer was deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering method. Effects of both techniques on the cell performance were comparatively investigated. We found that the ZnO interface layer and CO₂ plasma treatment were effective in enhancing V_oc, J_sc as well as FF of the cells as the same. The micromorph solar cells using an optimized ZnO interface layer and the CO₂ plasma treatment indicated initial conversion efficiency of 11.4% and 11.2%, respectively. Experimental results indicated that the CO₂ plasma treatment technique is more suitable for using in cell fabrication process than the ZnO interface layer since it is simpler and has no negative impact of possible shunts.     

Development of high efficiency p-i-n amorphous silicon solar cells with the p-μc-Si:H/p-a-SiC:H double window layer

A structure is developed to help improve the TCO/p contact and efficiency of the solar cell. A p-i-n amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell with high-conversion efficiency is presented via use of a double p-type window layer composed of microcrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon carbide. The best efficiency is obtained for a glass/textured TCO/p-μc-Si:H/p-a-SiC:H/buffer/i-a-Si:H/n-μc-Si:H/GZO/Ag structure. Using a SnO₂/GZO bi-layer and a p-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (p-μc-Si:H) layer between the TCO/p-a-SiC:H interface improves the photovoltaic performance due to reduction of the surface potential barrier. Layer thickness, B₂H₆/SiH₄ ratio and hydrogen dilution ratio of the p-μc-Si:H layer are studied experimentally. It is clearly shown that the double window layer can improve solar cell efficiency. An initial conversion efficiency of 10.63% is achieved for the a-Si:H solar cell.     

Single-crystalline silicon solar cell with pp heterojunction of c-Si substrate and μc-Si : H film

Annealing effects of the single-crystalline silicon solar cells with hydrogenated microcrystaline silicon (μc-Si : H) film were studied to improve the conversion efficiency. Boron-doped (p⁺) μc-Si : H film was deposited in a RF plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (RF plasma CVD) on the rear surface of the cell. With the optimized annealing conditions for the substrate, the conversion efficiency of 21.4% (AM1.5, 25°C, 100 mW/cm²) was obtained for 5 × 5 cm² area single crystalline-solar cell.     

Influence of defects and band offsets on carrier transport mechanisms in amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

We have investigated the carrier transport mechanisms in undoped a-Si:H/p-type c-Si heterojunctions with and without a μc-Si buffer layer, as well as their effects on the photovoltaic properties of the junction. The conduction behavior of the junction is strongly affected by the defect state distribution and band offset at the hetero-interface. The recombination process involving the interface states on the thin film silicon (a-Si:H/μc-Si) side dominates at low forward bias (V<0.3 V), whereas multistep tunneling capture emission (MTCE) dominates in the higher bias region (0.3<V<0.55 V) until the conduction becomes space charge limited (V>0.55 V). The MTCE process seems to be more closely related to the bulk defects in the thin film silicon than the interface states. In addition, the position of a trapping level, where the tunneling process occurs, seems to be determined by the hole energy at the edge of the c-Si and the trap distribution in the thin film silicon. Despite the domination of MTCE in the indicated voltage range, the reduced band offset at the interface increases current levels by the enhanced diffusion and/or emission processes. The insertion of a 200 Å thick μc-Si buffer layer between the a-Si:H (700 Å)/c-Si increases the solar cell efficiency to 10%, without an antireflective coating, by improving both the carrier transport and the red response of the cell.     

Microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells prepared at low temperature using PECVD

The low-temperature deposition of μc-Si:H has been found to be effective to suppress the formation of oxygen-related donors that cause a reduction in open-circuit voltage (V_oc) due to shunt leakage. We demonstrate the improvement of V_oc by lowering the deposition temperature down to 140°C. A high efficiency of 8.9% was obtained using an Aasahi-U substrate. Furthermore, by optimizing textured structures on ZnO transparent conductive oxide substrates, an efficiency of 9.4% was obtained. In addition, relatively high efficiency of 8.1% was achieved using VHF (60 MHz) plasma at a deposition rate of 12 Å s⁻¹. Thus, this low-temperature deposition technique for μc-Si:H is promising for obtaining both high efficiency and high-rate deposition technique for μc-Si:H solar cells.