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Growth of Thin <p> μc-Si:H on Intrinsic a-Si:H for <nip> Solar Cells Application

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

P. Pemet ,
M. Goetz ,
H. Keppner  and
A. Shah
P. Pemet
Affiliation:
IMT, Université de Neuchâtel, A.-L. Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
M. Goetz
Affiliation:
IMT, Université de Neuchâtel, A.-L. Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
H. Keppner
Affiliation:
IMT, Université de Neuchâtel, A.-L. Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
A. Shah
Affiliation:
IMT, Université de Neuchâtel, A.-L. Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
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Abstract

The <p> μc-SiC:H / <i> a-Si:H junction can be considered to be a sub-system of a n/i/p solar cell. Optimised performance of this junction can be assumed to be a key feature for obtaining high efficiency solar cells.

In this paper the authors present results on the conductivity of boron doped microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon (<p> μc-Si:H) thin films deposited on amorphous substrates (e.g. glass or glass/<i> a-Si:H). It is shown that, without any treatment of the substrate or of the underlying surface, the <p> layers showed a strongly reduced conductivity. This indicates either a bad nucleation or a poor microcrystalline behaviour. By using an appropriate surface treatment of the substrate, a gain in photoconductivity of about three orders of magnitude could be obtained (σ > 3 S/cm at a layer thickness of 400Å). We conclude from this, that for thin <p> type μc-Si:H layers the nucleation conditions are essential for obtaining best electric properties of the film w.r.t. solar cell performance.

Based on these results, interface treatment was successfully implemented in n/i/p solar cells deposited on TCO coated glass and stainless steel. The results of these experiments are also presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 452 , 1996 , 889
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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