Microcrystalline Silicon-Germanium Alloys for Absorption Layers in Thin Film Solar Cells

1998 ◽  
Vol 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Carius ◽  
J. Fölsch ◽  
D. Lundszien ◽  
L. Houben ◽  
F. Finger
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Structural Quality ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Germanium Content ◽  
Microscopic Scale ◽  
Infrared Spectral ◽  
A Cell ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACTThin microcrystalline silicon-germanium films (μ-Sil.xGex:H) prepared by PECVD at 95 MHz have been investigated. The optical absorption of these films increases in the infrared spectral region with increasing germanium content. In addition to the shift of the indirect gap an increase of the absorption coefficient above the band edge is observed. The material shows high crystallinity and exhibits good structural quality similar to pure μ-Si:H films. The films are homogeneous on a macroscopic to a microscopic scale as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and Electron Microscopy methods. p-i-n solar cells with pc-Sil-xGex:H i-layers have been prepared for the first time. An efficiency of η = 3.1 % under AM1.5 has been obtained for a cell with 150 nm thin i-layer.

scholarly journals Development of Hydrogenated Microcrystalline Silicon-Germanium Alloys for Improving Long-Wavelength Absorption in Si-Based Thin-Film Solar Cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Tang Huang ◽  
Hung-Jung Hsu ◽  
Shin-Wei Liang ◽  
Cheng-Hang Hsu ◽  
Chuang-Chuang Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Crystalline Volume Fraction ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Single Junction ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Wavelength Absorption

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon-germanium (μc-Si1-xGex:H) alloys were developed for application in Si-based thin-film solar cells. The effects of thegermane concentration(RGeH4)and thehydrogen ratio(RH2)on theμc-Si1-xGex:H alloys and the corresponding single-junction thin-film solar cells were studied. The behaviors of Ge incorporation in a-Si1-xGex:H andμc-Si1-xGex:H were also compared. Similar to a-Si1-xGex:H, the preferential Ge incorporation was observed inμc-Si1-xGex:H. Moreover, a higherRH2significantly promoted Ge incorporation for a-Si1-xGex:H, while the Ge content was not affected byRH2inμc-Si1-xGex:H growth. Furthermore, to eliminate the crystallization effect, the 0.9 μm thick absorbers with a similar crystalline volume fraction were applied. With the increasingRGeH4, the accompanied increase in Ge content ofμc-Si1-xGex:H narrowed the bandgap and markedly enhanced the long-wavelength absorption. However, the bias-dependent EQE measurement revealed that too much Ge incorporation in absorber deteriorated carrier collection and cell performance. With the optimization ofRH2andRGeH4, the single-junctionμc-Si1-xGex:H cell achieved an efficiency of 5.48%, corresponding to the crystalline volume fraction of 50.5% and Ge content of 13.2 at.%. Compared toμc-Si:H cell, the external quantum efficiency at 800 nm had a relative increase by 33.1%.

Band gap grading in microcrystalline silicon germanium thin film solar cells

2015 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
pp. 456-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Cao ◽  
Jing Zhou ◽  
Yijun Wang ◽  
Jian Ni ◽  
Jianjun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Band Gap ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon

Role of Bandgap Grading for the Performance of Microcrystalline Silicon Germanium Solar Cells

1999 ◽  
Vol 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Krause ◽  
R. Carius ◽  
H. Stiebig ◽  
F. Finger ◽  
D. Lundszien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Infrared Region ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Ir Detectors ◽  
Germanium Content ◽  
20 Nm ◽  
Graded Bandgap

AbstractThe optical absorption of microcrystalline silicon germanium alloys (μc-Si1-xGex:H) increases in the near infrared region with increasing germanium content. Therefore, these alloys are promising candidates for the application as intrinsic absorber material in thin film solar cells with tandem and triple structure or IR-detectors. The material properties for a germanium content (x) up to 0.6 and the performance of solar cells based on this material were investigated. Graded bandgap structures are used to optimize the cell performance. For cells with x > 0.3 a continuously graded bandgap in the rear 20 nm of the i-layer (at the i/n interface) results in an enhancement of the open circuit voltage by 40-80 mV compared to an abrupt bandgap discontinuity. When the design of the p/i interface region is changed in a similar way no effect on Voc is observed.

Thin film solar cells based on microcrystalline silicon–germanium narrow-gap absorbers

2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 1100-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Matsui ◽  
C.W. Chang ◽  
T. Takada ◽  
M. Isomura ◽  
H. Fujiwara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Narrow Gap ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon

Microcrystalline silicon carbide alloys prepared with HWCVD as highly transparent and conductive window layers for thin film solar cells

2009 ◽  
Vol 517 (12) ◽  
pp. 3507-3512 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Finger ◽  
O. Astakhov ◽  
T. Bronger ◽  
R. Carius ◽  
T. Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon

High Haze and Low Resistive MgO/AZO Bi-layer Transparent Conducting Oxide for Thin Film Solar Cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 1327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Won Kang ◽  
Jong Seok Woo ◽  
Sung Hwan Choi ◽  
Seung Yoon Lee ◽  
Heon Min. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Transparent Conducting Oxide ◽  
Visible Region ◽  
Xrd Analysis ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Transparent Conducting

ABSTRACTWe have propsed MgO/AZO bi-layer transparent conducting oxide (TCO) for thin film solar cells. From XRD analysis, it was observed that the full width at half maximum of AZO decreased when it was grown on MgO precursor. The Hall mobility of MgO/AZO bi-layer was 17.5cm2/Vs, whereas that of AZO was 20.8cm2/Vs. These indicated that the crystallinity of AZO decreased by employing MgO precursor. However, the haze (=total diffusive transmittance/total transmittance) characteristics of highly crystalline AZO was significantly improved by MgO precursor. The average haze in the visible region increased from 14.3 to 48.2%, and that in the NIR region increased from 6.3 to 18.9%. The reflectance of microcrystalline silicon solar cell was decreased and external quantum efficiency was significantly improved by applying MgO/AZO bi-layer TCO. The efficiency of microcrystalline silicon solar cell with MgO/AZO bi-layer front TCO was 6.66%, whereas the efficiency of one with AZO single TCO was 5.19%.

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