Efficient silicon solar cells with highly conductive zirconium nitride electron-selective contacts

Efficient carrier transport and suppressed interface recombination at back contact are essential for high-efficiency solar cells. Herein, we developed a zirconium nitride (ZrN) film with a low film resistivity of 1.6 × 10−4 Ω cm as an electron-selective contact for n-type silicon solar cells. Suitab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2023-03, Vol.122 (11)
Main Authors: Tian, Juan, Xu, Kai, Wang, Guangwei, Jiang, Hongxu, Liu, Yuan, Zhu, Peng, Wang, Deliang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Applied physics
Carrier transport
Interlayers
Photovoltaic cells
Silicon
Solar cells
Thickness
Zirconium nitrides
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Summary:Efficient carrier transport and suppressed interface recombination at back contact are essential for high-efficiency solar cells. Herein, we developed a zirconium nitride (ZrN) film with a low film resistivity of 1.6 × 10−4 Ω cm as an electron-selective contact for n-type silicon solar cells. Suitable band alignment of the n-Si/ZrN hetero-contact eliminates the interface barrier between Al and n-Si. Meanwhile, electrostatic potential induced by interfacial Si–O–Zr bonds assists electron extraction. The fill factor of devices has been significantly improved by incorporating a ZrN layer. After optimizing the thickness of ZrN and contact fraction, the champion ZrN-based device exhibited an efficiency of 19.7%, yielding a 23% enhancement compared with that without a ZrN interlayer.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/5.0142898