Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts

Muhammad Sajjad, Xinbo Yang, Pietro Altermatt, Nirpendra Singh, Udo Schwingenschlögl, Stefaan De Wolf

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Passivating metal/silicon contacts combine low carrier recombination with low contact resistivities, enabled by a low gap state density at their interface. Such contacts find applications in high-efficiency solar cells. We perform first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to investigate the surface defect and metal-induced gap state density of silicon in close contact with metals (Al and Ag). We confirm that surface hydrogenation fully removes surface-defect gap states of (111)-oriented silicon surfaces. However, the metal-induced gap state density increases significantly when metals are closer than 0.5 nm to such surfaces. These results highlight the importance of the tunneling-film thickness in achieving effective passivating-contact formation.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)071601
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume114
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 19 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Metal-induced gap states in passivating metal/silicon contacts'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this