Deposition of Intrinsic a-Si:H by ECR-CVD to Passivate the Crystalline Silicon Heterointerface in HIT Solar Cells

We have deposited intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) using the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) chemical vapor deposition technique in order to analyze the a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface and assess the possible application in heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells. Physical char...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of photovoltaics 2016-09, Vol.6 (5), p.1059-1064
Main Authors: Garcia-Hernansanz, Rodrigo, Garcia-Hemme, Eric, Montero, Daniel, del Prado, Alvaro, Olea, Javier, Andres, EnriqueSan, Martil, Ignacio, Gonzalez-Diaz, German
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Chemical vapor deposition
Deposition
Electron cyclotron resonance
Electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD)
heterojunction
Hydrogen
Insulators
interface defects
metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) devices
Minority carriers
minority lifetime
Photovoltaic cells
Plasmas
Silicon
Solar cells
Substrates
Surface treatment
Temperature measurement
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Summary:We have deposited intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) using the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) chemical vapor deposition technique in order to analyze the a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface and assess the possible application in heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells. Physical characterization of the deposited films shows that the hydrogen content is in the 15-30% range, depending on deposition temperature. The optical bandgap value is always comprised within the range 1.9- 2.2 eV. Minority carrier lifetime measurements performed on the heterostructures reach high values up to 1.3 ms, indicating a well-passivated a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface for deposition temperatures as low as 100°C. In addition, we prove that the metal-oxide- semiconductor conductance method to obtain interface trap distribution can be applied to the a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface, since the intrinsic a-Si:H layer behaves as an insulator at low or negative bias. Values for the minimum of D it as low as 8 × 10 10 cm -2 · eV -1 were obtained for our samples, pointing to good surface passivation properties of ECR-deposited a-Si:H for HIT solar cell applications.
ISSN:2156-3381
2156-3403
DOI:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2581487