Novel thin film solar cell model with two antipolar MIS structures

In this article we introduce a new thin film solar cell model which uses the properties of two antipolar MIS structures. The active layer consists of unipolar polycrystalline silicon. We employed silicon dioxide as insulator. The back- and top electrode consist of indium tin oxide (ITO). The solar cell model was developed under consideration of the low-temperature chemical vapour deposition (i.e. PECVD). As oxide and ITO are optical transparent media and in compound with the planned process technology the solar cell concept would be very suitable for a stack arrangement which would increase the device conversion efficiency. Currently the preparation of silicon dioxide with a sufficiently large fixed negative charge seems to be out of technological facilities. Nevertheless, we consider the concept introduced herein as an important contribution to novel ways of efficient low-cost thin-film solar cells. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.