Effect of deposited passivation materials and doping on recombination at III-V surfaces

Niranjana Mohan Kumar, Abhinav Chikhalkar, Richard R. King

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Passivation of dangling bonds at surfaces and interfaces is an essential feature of high-efficiency solar cells. The high recombination activity of surface states in III-V semiconductors typically requires epitaxial growth of high-bandgap layers to suppress interface recombination. Surface recombination in III-Vs can be reduced by solution deposition of sulfides, however, the resulting passivation can degrade over time, and surface roughness caused by the passivation can degrade cell performance. In this work, the effects of different passivation materials and techniques, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), on GaAs and InP surfaces are analyzed by direct measurement of the minority-carrier lifetime by time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). Recombination parameters due to passivation of surface states are characterized for Al2O3, amorphous silicon (a-Si) and sulfide interfaces on n-type, intrinsic, and p-type GaAs and InP substrates. Al2O3 passivation of n-GaAs has shown 1.35 ns improvement in measured lifetime, while a-Si passivation shows a slight improvement in passivation for n-type GaAs and p-type InP.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1039-1043
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781728104942
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2019
Event46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019 - Chicago, United States
Duration: Jun 16 2019Jun 21 2019

Publication series

NameConference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
ISSN (Print)0160-8371

Conference

Conference46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago
Period6/16/196/21/19

Keywords

  • AlO
  • III-V
  • amorphous silicon
  • interface states
  • passivation
  • surface recombination velocity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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