Oxidation condition dependence of surface passivation in high efficiency silicon solar cells

Several recent high performance silicon solar cells have taken advantage of surface oxide passivation to improve both their short wavelength response and open-circuit voltage. Using low resistivity substrates to minimize base recombination rates, the effect of oxidation conditions upon the passifying properties of thin oxides is quantified. It is shown that emitter recombination in high efficiency cells decreases by a factor of at least 3 and most probably 7 as the oxide growth temperature increases from 825 to 900°C and the oxide thickness increases from 60 to 100 Å. This increase in performance is at the expense of a slight loss in cell short-circuit current density.