Explanation of the device operation principle of amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell and role of the inversion of crystalline silicon surface

Kunal Ghosh, Clarence J. Tracy, Stanislau Herasimenka, Christiana Honsberg, Stuart Bowden

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

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The device operation principle of amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell is discussed. The band diagram obtained by the computer model developed in the commercial simulator Sentaurus shows that the c-Si surface is inverted at the interface between a-Si and c-Si (heterointerface). A strong inversion gives a strong electric field at the c-Si surface, which in turn facilitates the transport of minority carriers across the heterointerface. A high performance device requires a strongly inverted c-Si surface. Calculations are performed to show that the doping of the doped a-Si layer, the thickness of the intrinsic layer, and the defect state density at the heterointerface all affect the inversion of the crystalline silicon surface. Unlike homojunction devices, the defects in heterojunction devices have a greater role in transport mechanism than in recombination mechanism. The results show that in devices with a large number of defects at the interface, the fill factor degrades with little change in open circuit voltage. This explains why it is relatively easy to obtain VOC's approaching 700 mV with heterojunctions but often with low fill factors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProgram - 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2010
Pages1383-1386
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2010 - Honolulu, HI, United States
Duration: Jun 20 2010Jun 25 2010

Publication series

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

Other

Other35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHonolulu, HI
Period6/20/106/25/10

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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

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