Deposition of device quality amorphous silicon and solar cell from argon dilution of silane

2012 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1358-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Animesh Layek ◽  
Somnath Middya ◽  
Partha Pratim Ray
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Argon Dilution

Use of Transparent Conductive Oxide Materials with Low Indices of Refraction in Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Cell Technology

2005 ◽  
Vol 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Jones ◽  
Joachim Doehler ◽  
Tongyu Liu ◽  
David Tsu ◽  
Jeff Steele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Transparent Conductive Oxide ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Back Reflectors ◽  
Stability Issues ◽  
Silicon Based ◽  
Solar Cell Technology

AbstractNew types of transparent conductive oxides with low indices of refraction have been developed for use in optical stacks for the amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cell and other thin film applications. The alloys are ZnO based with Si and MgF added to reduce the index of the materials through the creation of SiO2 or MgF2, with n=1.3-1.4, or the addition of voids in the materials. Alloys with 12-14% Si or Mg have indices of refraction at λ=800nm between 1.6 and 1.7. These materials are presently being used in optical stacks to enhance light scattering by Al/multi-layer/ZnO back reflectors in a-Si based solar cells to increase light absorption in the semiconductor layers and increase open circuit currents and boost device efficiencies. In contrast to Ag/ZnO back reflectors which have long term stability issues due to electromigration of Ag, these Al based back reflectors should be stable and usable in manufactured PV products. In this manuscript, structural properties for the materials will be reported as well as the performance of solar cell devices made using these new types of materials.

17.8%-efficient Amorphous Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells on p-type Silicon Wafers

2006 ◽  
Vol 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Wang ◽  
Matt P. Page ◽  
Eugene Iwancizko ◽  
Yueqin Xu ◽  
Yanfa Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Layer Growth ◽  
Surface Recombination Velocity ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
P Type

AbstractWe have achieved an independently-confirmed 17.8% conversion efficiency in a 1-cm2, p-type, float-zone silicon (FZ-Si) based heterojunction solar cell. Both the front emitter and back contact are hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD). This is the highest reported efficiency for a HWCVD silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. Two main improvements lead to our most recent increases in efficiency: 1) the use of textured Si wafers, and 2) the application of a-Si:H heterojunctions on both sides of the cell. Despite the use of textured c-Si to increase the short-circuit current, we were able to maintain the same 0.65 V open-circuit voltage as on flat c-Si. This is achieved by coating a-Si:H conformally on the c-Si surfaces, including covering the tips of the anisotropically-etched pyramids. A brief atomic H treatment before emitter deposition is not necessary on the textured wafers, though it was helpful in the flat wafers. It is essential to high efficiency SHJ solar cells that the emitter grows abruptly as amorphous silicon, instead of as microcrystalline or epitaxial Si. The contact on each side of the cell comprises a thin (< 5 nm) low substrate temperature (~100°C) intrinsic a-Si:H layer, followed by a doped layer. Our intrinsic layers are deposited at 0.3-1.2 nm/s. The doped emitter and back-contact layers were deposited at a higher temperature (>200°C) and grown from PH3/SiH4/H2 and B2H6/SiH4/H2 doping gas mixtures, respectively. This combination of low (intrinsic) and high (doped layer) growth temperatures was optimized by lifetime and surface recombination velocity measurements. Our rapid efficiency advance suggests that HWCVD may have advantages over plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD in fabrication of high-efficiency heterojunction c-Si cells; there is no need for process optimization to avoid plasma damage to the delicate, high-quality, Si wafers.

LIGHT-INDUCED EXCESS CONDUCTIVITY AND THE ROLE OF ARGON IN THE DEPOSITION OF DOPING-MODULATED AMORPHOUS SILICON SUPERLATTICES.

1985 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.-C. Su ◽  
S. Levine ◽  
P. E. Vanier ◽  
F. J. Kampas
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Amorphous Semiconductor ◽  
Excess Conductivity ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Semiconductor Superlattice ◽  
Deposition Parameters ◽  
Superlattice Structures ◽  
Argon Dilution ◽  
P Type

AbstractAmorphous semiconductor superlattice structures consisting of alternating n-type and p-type doped layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) have been made by silane glow discharge in a single chamber system. These multilayered films show the novel phenomenon of light-induced excess conductivity (LEC) associated with a metastable state having a lifetime of order of days. This report shows that the LEC effect is quite dependent on the specific details of the deposition parameters, namely dilution of the silane with inert gas, substrate temperature and layer thickness. In order to investigate the origin of the LEC effect, argon dilution was used for specific regions of the structure. This experiment shows that the slow states are distributed throughout the layers, and are not concentrated at the interfaces.

9.4% Efficient Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell on High Aspect-Ratio Glass Microcones

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (24) ◽  
pp. 4082-4086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeehwan Kim ◽  
Corsin Battaglia ◽  
Mathieu Charrière ◽  
Augustin Hong ◽  
Wooshik Jung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
High Aspect Ratio ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell
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