Passivating contacts for silicon solar cells based on boron-diffused recrystallized amorphous silicon and thin dielectric interlayers

Di Yan; Andres Cuevas; Yimao Wan; James Bullock

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2016.03.033

Passivating contacts for silicon solar cells based on boron-diffused recrystallized amorphous silicon and thin dielectric interlayers

Di Yan^*, Andres Cuevas, Yimao Wan, James Bullock

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

92 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A technique to make poly-Si (p⁺)/SiO_x contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells based on doping PECVD intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si) by means of a thermal BBr₃ diffusion process is demonstrated. The thickness of the a-Si layer and the temperature of the boron diffusion are optimized in terms of suppressing carrier recombination and transport losses. Different interfacial layers are studied, including ultra-thin SiO_x grown either chemically or thermally, and stacks of SiO_x and SiN_x. While the double SiO_x/SiN_x interlayers do not achieve the desired performance, both kinds of single SiO_x layers produce satisfactory passivating contacts, with both a low recombination current and a low contact resistivity. By adjusting the boron diffusion temperature, recombination current parameter J₀ values of ∼ 16 fA/cm² to ∼30 fA/cm² have been obtained for structures with initial a-Si thicknesses of 36-46 nm, together with a contact resistivity of ∼8 mΩ cm².

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	73-79
Number of pages	7
Journal	Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Volume	152
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.03.033
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2016

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@article{3dad69ab49c84721acb5f32d76bb0e74,

title = "Passivating contacts for silicon solar cells based on boron-diffused recrystallized amorphous silicon and thin dielectric interlayers",

abstract = "A technique to make poly-Si (p+)/SiOx contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells based on doping PECVD intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si) by means of a thermal BBr3 diffusion process is demonstrated. The thickness of the a-Si layer and the temperature of the boron diffusion are optimized in terms of suppressing carrier recombination and transport losses. Different interfacial layers are studied, including ultra-thin SiOx grown either chemically or thermally, and stacks of SiOx and SiNx. While the double SiOx/SiNx interlayers do not achieve the desired performance, both kinds of single SiOx layers produce satisfactory passivating contacts, with both a low recombination current and a low contact resistivity. By adjusting the boron diffusion temperature, recombination current parameter J0 values of ∼ 16 fA/cm2 to ∼30 fA/cm2 have been obtained for structures with initial a-Si thicknesses of 36-46 nm, together with a contact resistivity of ∼8 mΩ cm2.",

keywords = "Amorphous silicon, Boron, Passivated contact, Polysilicon, Solar cell",

author = "Di Yan and Andres Cuevas and Yimao Wan and James Bullock",

year = "2016",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.solmat.2016.03.033",

language = "English",

volume = "152",

pages = "73--79",

journal = "Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells",

issn = "0927-0248",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Passivating contacts for silicon solar cells based on boron-diffused recrystallized amorphous silicon and thin dielectric interlayers

AU - Yan, Di

AU - Cuevas, Andres

AU - Wan, Yimao

AU - Bullock, James

PY - 2016/8/1

Y1 - 2016/8/1

N2 - A technique to make poly-Si (p+)/SiOx contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells based on doping PECVD intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si) by means of a thermal BBr3 diffusion process is demonstrated. The thickness of the a-Si layer and the temperature of the boron diffusion are optimized in terms of suppressing carrier recombination and transport losses. Different interfacial layers are studied, including ultra-thin SiOx grown either chemically or thermally, and stacks of SiOx and SiNx. While the double SiOx/SiNx interlayers do not achieve the desired performance, both kinds of single SiOx layers produce satisfactory passivating contacts, with both a low recombination current and a low contact resistivity. By adjusting the boron diffusion temperature, recombination current parameter J0 values of ∼ 16 fA/cm2 to ∼30 fA/cm2 have been obtained for structures with initial a-Si thicknesses of 36-46 nm, together with a contact resistivity of ∼8 mΩ cm2.

AB - A technique to make poly-Si (p+)/SiOx contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells based on doping PECVD intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si) by means of a thermal BBr3 diffusion process is demonstrated. The thickness of the a-Si layer and the temperature of the boron diffusion are optimized in terms of suppressing carrier recombination and transport losses. Different interfacial layers are studied, including ultra-thin SiOx grown either chemically or thermally, and stacks of SiOx and SiNx. While the double SiOx/SiNx interlayers do not achieve the desired performance, both kinds of single SiOx layers produce satisfactory passivating contacts, with both a low recombination current and a low contact resistivity. By adjusting the boron diffusion temperature, recombination current parameter J0 values of ∼ 16 fA/cm2 to ∼30 fA/cm2 have been obtained for structures with initial a-Si thicknesses of 36-46 nm, together with a contact resistivity of ∼8 mΩ cm2.

KW - Amorphous silicon

KW - Boron

KW - Passivated contact

KW - Polysilicon

KW - Solar cell

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962746615&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.03.033

DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.03.033

M3 - Article

SN - 0927-0248

VL - 152

SP - 73

EP - 79

JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

ER -

Passivating contacts for silicon solar cells based on boron-diffused recrystallized amorphous silicon and thin dielectric interlayers

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