Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells

Bill Nemeth; David L. Young; Hao Chih Yuan; Vincenzo Lasalvia; Andrew G. Norman; Matthew Page; Benjamin G. Lee; Paul Stradins

doi:10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675

Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells

Bill Nemeth, David L. Young, Hao Chih Yuan, Vincenzo Lasalvia, Andrew G. Norman, Matthew Page, Benjamin G. Lee, Paul Stradins

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

20 Scopus Citations

Abstract

We describe the design, fabrication, and results of low-recombination, passivated contacts to n-type silicon utilizing thin SiO_x, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited doped polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) layers. A low-temperature silicon dioxide layer is grown on both surfaces of an n-type CZ wafer to a thickness of <20 Å. Next, a thin layer of P-doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon (n/a-Si:H) is deposited on top of the SiO_x. The layers are annealed to crystallize the a-Si:H and diffuse H to the Si/SiO_x interface, after which a metal contacting layer is deposited over the conducting pc-Si layer. The contacts are characterized by measuring the recombination current parameter of the full-area contact (J_o,contact) to quantify the passivation quality, and the specific contact resistivity (ρ_contact). The Si/SiO_x/pc-Si contact has an excellent J_o,contact = 30 fA/cm² and a good ρ_contact = 29.5 mOhm-cm². Separate processing conditions lowered J_o,contact to 12 fA/cm². However, the final metallization can substantially degrade this contact and has to be carefully engineered. This contact could be easily incorporated into modern, high-efficiency solar cell designs, benefiting performance and yet simplifying processing by lowering the temperature and growth on only one side of the wafer.

Original language	American English
Pages	3448-3452
Number of pages	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675 https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675
State	Published - 15 Oct 2014
Event	40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014 - Denver, United States Duration: 8 Jun 2014 → 13 Jun 2014

Conference

Conference	40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014
Country/Territory	United States
City	Denver
Period	8/06/14 → 13/06/14

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

NREL/CP-5J00-61345

Keywords

passivated contacts
polysilicon
silicon dioxide
silicon solar cells

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Nemeth, B., Young, D. L., Yuan, H. C., Lasalvia, V., Norman, A. G., Page, M., Lee, B. G., & Stradins, P. (2014). Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells. 3448-3452. Paper presented at 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014, Denver, United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675

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abstract = "We describe the design, fabrication, and results of low-recombination, passivated contacts to n-type silicon utilizing thin SiOx, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited doped polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) layers. A low-temperature silicon dioxide layer is grown on both surfaces of an n-type CZ wafer to a thickness of <20 {\AA}. Next, a thin layer of P-doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon (n/a-Si:H) is deposited on top of the SiOx. The layers are annealed to crystallize the a-Si:H and diffuse H to the Si/SiOx interface, after which a metal contacting layer is deposited over the conducting pc-Si layer. The contacts are characterized by measuring the recombination current parameter of the full-area contact (Jo,contact) to quantify the passivation quality, and the specific contact resistivity (ρcontact). The Si/SiOx/pc-Si contact has an excellent Jo,contact = 30 fA/cm2 and a good ρcontact = 29.5 mOhm-cm2. Separate processing conditions lowered Jo,contact to 12 fA/cm2. However, the final metallization can substantially degrade this contact and has to be carefully engineered. This contact could be easily incorporated into modern, high-efficiency solar cell designs, benefiting performance and yet simplifying processing by lowering the temperature and growth on only one side of the wafer.",

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author = "Bill Nemeth and Young, {David L.} and Yuan, {Hao Chih} and Vincenzo Lasalvia and Norman, {Andrew G.} and Matthew Page and Lee, {Benjamin G.} and Paul Stradins",

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Nemeth, B , Young, DL, Yuan, HC, Lasalvia, V, Norman, AG , Page, M, Lee, BG & Stradins, P 2014, 'Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells', Paper presented at 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014, Denver, United States, 8/06/14 - 13/06/14 pp. 3448-3452. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675

TY - CONF

T1 - Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells

AU - Nemeth, Bill

AU - Young, David L.

AU - Yuan, Hao Chih

AU - Lasalvia, Vincenzo

AU - Norman, Andrew G.

AU - Page, Matthew

AU - Lee, Benjamin G.

AU - Stradins, Paul

PY - 2014/10/15

Y1 - 2014/10/15

N2 - We describe the design, fabrication, and results of low-recombination, passivated contacts to n-type silicon utilizing thin SiOx, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited doped polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) layers. A low-temperature silicon dioxide layer is grown on both surfaces of an n-type CZ wafer to a thickness of <20 Å. Next, a thin layer of P-doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon (n/a-Si:H) is deposited on top of the SiOx. The layers are annealed to crystallize the a-Si:H and diffuse H to the Si/SiOx interface, after which a metal contacting layer is deposited over the conducting pc-Si layer. The contacts are characterized by measuring the recombination current parameter of the full-area contact (Jo,contact) to quantify the passivation quality, and the specific contact resistivity (ρcontact). The Si/SiOx/pc-Si contact has an excellent Jo,contact = 30 fA/cm2 and a good ρcontact = 29.5 mOhm-cm2. Separate processing conditions lowered Jo,contact to 12 fA/cm2. However, the final metallization can substantially degrade this contact and has to be carefully engineered. This contact could be easily incorporated into modern, high-efficiency solar cell designs, benefiting performance and yet simplifying processing by lowering the temperature and growth on only one side of the wafer.

AB - We describe the design, fabrication, and results of low-recombination, passivated contacts to n-type silicon utilizing thin SiOx, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited doped polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) layers. A low-temperature silicon dioxide layer is grown on both surfaces of an n-type CZ wafer to a thickness of <20 Å. Next, a thin layer of P-doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon (n/a-Si:H) is deposited on top of the SiOx. The layers are annealed to crystallize the a-Si:H and diffuse H to the Si/SiOx interface, after which a metal contacting layer is deposited over the conducting pc-Si layer. The contacts are characterized by measuring the recombination current parameter of the full-area contact (Jo,contact) to quantify the passivation quality, and the specific contact resistivity (ρcontact). The Si/SiOx/pc-Si contact has an excellent Jo,contact = 30 fA/cm2 and a good ρcontact = 29.5 mOhm-cm2. Separate processing conditions lowered Jo,contact to 12 fA/cm2. However, the final metallization can substantially degrade this contact and has to be carefully engineered. This contact could be easily incorporated into modern, high-efficiency solar cell designs, benefiting performance and yet simplifying processing by lowering the temperature and growth on only one side of the wafer.

KW - passivated contacts

KW - polysilicon

KW - silicon dioxide

KW - silicon solar cells

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U2 - 10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675

DO - 10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925675

M3 - Paper

AN - SCOPUS:84912068481

SP - 3448

EP - 3452

T2 - 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014

Y2 - 8 June 2014 through 13 June 2014

ER -

Low Temperature Si/SiOx/pc-Si Passivated Contacts to n-Type Si Solar Cells

Abstract

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Keywords

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