Fundamental studies of grain boundary passivation in polycrystalline silicon with application to improved photovoltaic devices. Research report covering work completed from January-July 1980

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:7017329

Seager, C H; Ginley, D S

Calculations have been made of the a.c. properties of silicon grain boundaries based on the simple DDL/TE model. Experimental data obtained on bicrystals are shown to be in good agreement with these predictions. The anomalously large values of the low frequency capacitance are shown to be due to modulation of the barrier height by injected charge. Calculations of the properties of illuminated grain boundaries are also detailed and some preliminary conclusions are presented. Several new improved methods for the introduction of atomic hydrogen into polysilicon are discussed. By using EBIC characterization of polysilicon diodes it has been demonstrated that the hydrogen passivation process not only removes substantial amounts of trapped grain boundary charge, but also eliminates essentially all minority carrier recombination in these regions. Methods for reducing the hydrogen exposure time necessary to achieve this passivated condition are discussed.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 7017329
• Report Number(s): SAND-80-2461
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
PASSIVATION
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
CHARGE CARRIERS
CHARGE TRANSPORT
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGENATION
ION SOURCES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERFORMANCE
POLYCRYSTALS
RECOMBINATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
MICROSTRUCTURE
NONMETALS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion