Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells

Kejun Chen; Vincenzo LaSalvia; William Nemeth; San Theingi; Harvey Guthrey; Matthew Hartenstein; Abhijit Kale; Matthew Page; Alex Bothwell; James Sites; Paul Stradins; Sumit Agarwal; David Young

doi:10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794

Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells

Kejun Chen, Vincenzo LaSalvia, William Nemeth, San Theingi, Harvey Guthrey, Matthew Hartenstein, Abhijit Kale, Matthew Page, Alex Bothwell, James Sites, Paul Stradins, Sumit Agarwal, David Young

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

Abstract

Poly-Si/SiO₂ passivating contacts have shown great potential for industry-relevant next-generation solar cells. Previous work has demonstrated an improved J_sc from dry reactive ion etching in an SF₆ environment, using front metal grids as a self-aligned mask. Here, we show an effective method to measure the front poly-Si thickness on an alkaline textured surface using X-ray diffraction. The calculated thicknesses are compared with cross-section SEM analysis and Quokka simulation. We show that by thinning the front poly-Si from 200 nm to 60 nm, J_sc increases by 2.4 mA/cm2, leading to an absolute efficiency gain of 1.73%. Finally, we discuss possible reasons for the premature loss of passivation before the removal of all poly-Si.

Original language	American English
Pages	2783-2785
Number of pages	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794 https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794
State	Published - 14 Jun 2020
Event	47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020 - Calgary, Canada Duration: 15 Jun 2020 → 21 Aug 2020

Conference

Conference	47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Calgary
Period	15/06/20 → 21/08/20

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

NREL/CP-5900-77065

Keywords

cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy
light beam induced current
parasitic absorption
passivating contacts
Quokka simulation
silicon solar cell
XRD

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Chen, K., LaSalvia, V., Nemeth, W., Theingi, S., Guthrey, H., Hartenstein, M., Kale, A., Page, M., Bothwell, A., Sites, J., Stradins, P., Agarwal, S., & Young, D. (2020). Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells. 2783-2785. Paper presented at 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020, Calgary, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794

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title = "Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells",

abstract = "Poly-Si/SiO2 passivating contacts have shown great potential for industry-relevant next-generation solar cells. Previous work has demonstrated an improved Jsc from dry reactive ion etching in an SF6 environment, using front metal grids as a self-aligned mask. Here, we show an effective method to measure the front poly-Si thickness on an alkaline textured surface using X-ray diffraction. The calculated thicknesses are compared with cross-section SEM analysis and Quokka simulation. We show that by thinning the front poly-Si from 200 nm to 60 nm, Jsc increases by 2.4 mA/cm2, leading to an absolute efficiency gain of 1.73%. Finally, we discuss possible reasons for the premature loss of passivation before the removal of all poly-Si.",

keywords = "cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, light beam induced current, parasitic absorption, passivating contacts, Quokka simulation, silicon solar cell, XRD",

author = "Kejun Chen and Vincenzo LaSalvia and William Nemeth and San Theingi and Harvey Guthrey and Matthew Hartenstein and Abhijit Kale and Matthew Page and Alex Bothwell and James Sites and Paul Stradins and Sumit Agarwal and David Young",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 IEEE.; 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020 ; Conference date: 15-06-2020 Through 21-08-2020",

year = "2020",

month = jun,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794",

language = "American English",

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Chen, K, LaSalvia, V, Nemeth, W , Theingi, S , Guthrey, H, Hartenstein, M, Kale, A, Page, M, Bothwell, A, Sites, J, Stradins, P, Agarwal, S & Young, D 2020, 'Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells', Paper presented at 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020, Calgary, Canada, 15/06/20 - 21/08/20 pp. 2783-2785. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794

Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells. / Chen, Kejun; LaSalvia, Vincenzo; Nemeth, William et al.
2020. 2783-2785 Paper presented at 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020, Calgary, Canada.

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

TY - CONF

T1 - Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells

AU - Chen, Kejun

AU - LaSalvia, Vincenzo

AU - Nemeth, William

AU - Theingi, San

AU - Guthrey, Harvey

AU - Hartenstein, Matthew

AU - Kale, Abhijit

AU - Page, Matthew

AU - Bothwell, Alex

AU - Sites, James

AU - Stradins, Paul

AU - Agarwal, Sumit

AU - Young, David

PY - 2020/6/14

Y1 - 2020/6/14

N2 - Poly-Si/SiO2 passivating contacts have shown great potential for industry-relevant next-generation solar cells. Previous work has demonstrated an improved Jsc from dry reactive ion etching in an SF6 environment, using front metal grids as a self-aligned mask. Here, we show an effective method to measure the front poly-Si thickness on an alkaline textured surface using X-ray diffraction. The calculated thicknesses are compared with cross-section SEM analysis and Quokka simulation. We show that by thinning the front poly-Si from 200 nm to 60 nm, Jsc increases by 2.4 mA/cm2, leading to an absolute efficiency gain of 1.73%. Finally, we discuss possible reasons for the premature loss of passivation before the removal of all poly-Si.

AB - Poly-Si/SiO2 passivating contacts have shown great potential for industry-relevant next-generation solar cells. Previous work has demonstrated an improved Jsc from dry reactive ion etching in an SF6 environment, using front metal grids as a self-aligned mask. Here, we show an effective method to measure the front poly-Si thickness on an alkaline textured surface using X-ray diffraction. The calculated thicknesses are compared with cross-section SEM analysis and Quokka simulation. We show that by thinning the front poly-Si from 200 nm to 60 nm, Jsc increases by 2.4 mA/cm2, leading to an absolute efficiency gain of 1.73%. Finally, we discuss possible reasons for the premature loss of passivation before the removal of all poly-Si.

KW - cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy

KW - light beam induced current

KW - parasitic absorption

KW - passivating contacts

KW - Quokka simulation

KW - silicon solar cell

KW - XRD

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DO - 10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794

M3 - Paper

AN - SCOPUS:85099537429

SP - 2783

EP - 2785

T2 - 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020

Y2 - 15 June 2020 through 21 August 2020

ER -

Chen K, LaSalvia V, Nemeth W , Theingi S , Guthrey H, Hartenstein M et al.. Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells. 2020. Paper presented at 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2020, Calgary, Canada. doi: 10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794, 10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300794

Submicron Thickness Characterization of Poly-Si Thin Films on Textured Surfaces by X-Ray Diffraction for Minimizing Parasitic Absorption in Poly-Si/SiO2 Passivating Contact Cells

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Keywords

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