The silane depletion fraction as an indicator for the amorphous/crystalline silicon interface passivation quality

A. Descoeudres*, L. Barraud, R. Bartlome, G. Choong, Stefaan De Wolf, F. Zicarelli, C. Ballif

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

95 Scopus citations

Abstract

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, thin amorphous silicon layers passivate the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces. By using in situ diagnostics during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the authors report how the passivation quality of such layers directly relate to the plasma conditions. Good interface passivation is obtained from highly depleted silane plasmas. Based upon this finding, layers deposited in a large-area very high frequency (40.68 MHz) PECVD reactor were optimized for heterojunction solar cells, yielding aperture efficiencies up to 20.3% on 4 cm2 cells.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number183505
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume97
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2010
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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