Study of the hydrogenation mechanism by rapid thermal anneal of SiN:H in thin-film polycrystalline-silicon solar cells

A considerable cost reduction in photovoltaics could be achieved if efficient solar cells could be made from thin polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) films. Although hydrogen passivation of pc-Si films is crucial to obtain good solar cells, the exact mechanism of hydrogen diffusion through pc-Si layers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE electron device letters 2006-03, Vol.27 (3), p.163-165
Main Authors: Carnel, L., Dekkers, H.F.W., Gordon, I., Van Gestel, D., Van Nieuwenhuysen, K., Beaucarne, G., Poortmans, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Atomic layer deposition
Compound structure devices
Costs
Devices
Diffusion
Electronics
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Grain boundaries
Grain size
Grains
Hydrogen
Hydrogen storage
Hydrogenation
Natural energy
Optoelectronic devices
P-n junctions
Passivation
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic conversion
polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si)
Rapid thermal annealing
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Solar cells
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Thin films
Transistors
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Summary:A considerable cost reduction in photovoltaics could be achieved if efficient solar cells could be made from thin polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) films. Although hydrogen passivation of pc-Si films is crucial to obtain good solar cells, the exact mechanism of hydrogen diffusion through pc-Si layers is not yet understood. In this letter, the influence of the junction and the grain size are investigated. We find that the presence of a p-n junction acts as a barrier for hydrogen diffusion in thin-film polysilicon solar cells. Therefore, pc-Si solar cells should preferably be passivated before junction formation. Furthermore, pc-Si layers with large grains retain less hydrogen after passivation than layers with small grains. This indicates that hydrogen atoms get mainly trapped at the grain boundaries.
ISSN:0741-3106
1558-0563
DOI:10.1109/LED.2005.863566