Abstract
Amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g. forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We previously evidenced the superior temperature stability of low-carbon-content intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiCx:H) passivating layers to sidestep this issue, and investigate here in more details the reason for the improved temperature stability. The passivation from intrinsic a-SiCx:H layers is shown to first improved upon annealing, and then degrade past 350 °C. The initial passivation can be improved and the degradation postponed by capping the a-SiCx:H layer by an a-Si:H film. We compare here the passivation provided by stacks of a-Si:H and a-SiCx:H, and investigate the hydrogen bonding and content of these films.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 2017 IEEE 44th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2017 |
| Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
| Pages | 1-3 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781509056057 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 25 2018 |
| Event | 44th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2017 - Washington, United States Duration: Jun 25 2017 → Jun 30 2017 |
Other
| Other | 44th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2017 |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| City | Washington |
| Period | 6/25/17 → 6/30/17 |
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Keywords
- Amorphous silicon
- Amorphous silicon carbide
- Hydrogen
- Passivation
- Temperature stability
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Cite this
Crystalline silicon passivation with amorphous silicon carbide layers. / Boccard, Mathieu; Jackson, Alec; Holman, Zachary.
2017 IEEE 44th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2017. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2018. p. 1-3.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Crystalline silicon passivation with amorphous silicon carbide layers
AU - Boccard, Mathieu
AU - Jackson, Alec
AU - Holman, Zachary
PY - 2018/5/25
Y1 - 2018/5/25
N2 - Amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g. forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We previously evidenced the superior temperature stability of low-carbon-content intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiCx:H) passivating layers to sidestep this issue, and investigate here in more details the reason for the improved temperature stability. The passivation from intrinsic a-SiCx:H layers is shown to first improved upon annealing, and then degrade past 350 °C. The initial passivation can be improved and the degradation postponed by capping the a-SiCx:H layer by an a-Si:H film. We compare here the passivation provided by stacks of a-Si:H and a-SiCx:H, and investigate the hydrogen bonding and content of these films.
AB - Amorphous silicon enables the fabrication of very high-efficiency crystalline-silicon-based solar cells due to its combination of excellent passivation of the crystalline silicon surface and permeability to electrical charges. Yet, amongst other limitations, the passivation it provides degrades upon high-temperature processes, limiting possible post-deposition fabrication possibilities (e.g. forcing the use of low-temperature silver pastes). We previously evidenced the superior temperature stability of low-carbon-content intrinsic amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiCx:H) passivating layers to sidestep this issue, and investigate here in more details the reason for the improved temperature stability. The passivation from intrinsic a-SiCx:H layers is shown to first improved upon annealing, and then degrade past 350 °C. The initial passivation can be improved and the degradation postponed by capping the a-SiCx:H layer by an a-Si:H film. We compare here the passivation provided by stacks of a-Si:H and a-SiCx:H, and investigate the hydrogen bonding and content of these films.
KW - Amorphous silicon
KW - Amorphous silicon carbide
KW - Hydrogen
KW - Passivation
KW - Temperature stability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85048507927&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85048507927&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/PVSC.2017.8366233
DO - 10.1109/PVSC.2017.8366233
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85048507927
SP - 1
EP - 3
BT - 2017 IEEE 44th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2017
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ER -