Vanadium-based antireflection coated on multicrystalline silicon acting as a passivating layer

• Published in: Solar energy 2012-05, Vol.86 (5), p.1504-1510
• Main Authors: Derbali, L., Ezzaouia, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Antireflection coated; Applied sciences; Density; Deposition; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electronics; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Fourier transforms; Grain boundaries; Multicrystalline silicon; Natural energy; Optoelectronic devices; Passivation; Photoelectric conversion; Photovoltaic conversion; Scanning electron microscopy; SEM; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Surface passivation; Thin films; Vanadium pentoxide; Volt-ampere characteristics; Wafers; WTC120 lifetime tester
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2012.02.011

► Passivation of multicrystalline silicon surface and grain boundaries after annealing the deposited vanadium oxide thin films. ► An efficient antireflection coating (ARC) which enhances solar cell performance. ► Minority carrier lifetime improvement after annealing deposited films. In this paper, we present important experimental results of a new efficient (ARC), leading to an efficient surface passivation that have not been reported before. Vanadium pentoxide V2O5 powder was thermally evaporated onto the front surface of mc-Si substrates, followed by a short annealing duration at 600°C, 700°C and 800°C under an O2 atmosphere. The chemical composition of the deposited vanadium oxide thin films was analyzed by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Surface and cross-section morphology were determined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of the deposited thin film on the electrical properties was evaluated by means of the internal quantum efficiency (IQE), minority carrier lifetime measurements which have been made using a WTC-120 photoconductance lifetime tester and we used dark current–voltage (I–V) characteristic to measure the defect density at a selected grain boundary (GB) in all samples and compared to an untreated wafer. The results show that the deposited thin film single layer gives the possibility of combining, in one processing step, an antireflection coating deposition along with efficient surface state passivation, as compared to a reference wafer.