Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly-Si/SiOx Passivating Contact c-Si Solar Cells
Abstract
We report both polarity poly-Si/SiOx passivating contacts in a front/back device configuration may represent the next solar cell architecture after tunnel oxide passivating contacts (TOPCon) cells, but high parasitic absorption in the front poly -Si layer often limits its performance. This work explores a wet etching technique to remove the front poly -Si in the nonmetallized regions using self-aligned metal grids as an etch mask. We systematically examine various dielectric layers (SiNx,Al2O3, and stacks thereof) to study the repassivation of the etched n+ surface, and find that an SiNx/Al2O3 passivation stack can effectively repassivate the etched surface, which we attribute to field-effect passivation from the positive fixed charge from the SiNx layer, and excellent chemical passivation property from Al2O3 in the form of atomic H. We demonstrate a front/back poly-Si/SiOx passivating contact device, with an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 690 mV, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 39.8 mA/cm2, fill factor of 78%, and power conversion efficiency of 21.4%. Furthermore, simulations using SunSolve and Quokka 3 show good agreement with both the optical and electrical properties of the experimental device. The power loss analysis reveals improvements in the optical loss from the back Ti adhesion and front SiNx layers would leadmore »
- Authors:
-
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1866765
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5900-82843
Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381; MainId:83616;UUID:f4d3f369-a2b8-41c2-8620-de567e5b0be2;MainAdminID:64456
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; EE00034359
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381
- Publisher:
- IEEE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; dielectric passivation; parasitic absorption; passivating contacts; silicon solar cell
Citation Formats
Chen, Kejun, Hartweg, Barry, Woodhouse, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Nemeth, William, Theingi, San, Page, Matthew, Holman, Zachary C., Stradins, Paul, Agarwal, Sumit, and Young, David L. Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly-Si/SiOx Passivating Contact c-Si Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1109/jphotov.2022.3148719.
Chen, Kejun, Hartweg, Barry, Woodhouse, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Nemeth, William, Theingi, San, Page, Matthew, Holman, Zachary C., Stradins, Paul, Agarwal, Sumit, & Young, David L. Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly-Si/SiOx Passivating Contact c-Si Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/jphotov.2022.3148719
Chen, Kejun, Hartweg, Barry, Woodhouse, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Nemeth, William, Theingi, San, Page, Matthew, Holman, Zachary C., Stradins, Paul, Agarwal, Sumit, and Young, David L. Tue .
"Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly-Si/SiOx Passivating Contact c-Si Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/jphotov.2022.3148719. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1866765.
@article{osti_1866765,
title = {Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly-Si/SiOx Passivating Contact c-Si Solar Cells},
author = {Chen, Kejun and Hartweg, Barry and Woodhouse, Michael and Guthrey, Harvey and Nemeth, William and Theingi, San and Page, Matthew and Holman, Zachary C. and Stradins, Paul and Agarwal, Sumit and Young, David L.},
abstractNote = {We report both polarity poly-Si/SiOx passivating contacts in a front/back device configuration may represent the next solar cell architecture after tunnel oxide passivating contacts (TOPCon) cells, but high parasitic absorption in the front poly -Si layer often limits its performance. This work explores a wet etching technique to remove the front poly -Si in the nonmetallized regions using self-aligned metal grids as an etch mask. We systematically examine various dielectric layers (SiNx,Al2O3, and stacks thereof) to study the repassivation of the etched n+ surface, and find that an SiNx/Al2O3 passivation stack can effectively repassivate the etched surface, which we attribute to field-effect passivation from the positive fixed charge from the SiNx layer, and excellent chemical passivation property from Al2O3 in the form of atomic H. We demonstrate a front/back poly-Si/SiOx passivating contact device, with an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 690 mV, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 39.8 mA/cm2, fill factor of 78%, and power conversion efficiency of 21.4%. Furthermore, simulations using SunSolve and Quokka 3 show good agreement with both the optical and electrical properties of the experimental device. The power loss analysis reveals improvements in the optical loss from the back Ti adhesion and front SiNx layers would lead to a 23.5% device. Lastly, a techno-economic model compares the production cost of this improved cell with the current TOPCon cells. Our results highlight that further cost reductions in single-sided doped poly -Si layers are needed to compete with mainstream passivated emitter and rear cell, and TOPCon technologies.},
doi = {10.1109/jphotov.2022.3148719},
journal = {IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics},
number = 3,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 08 00:00:00 EST 2022},
month = {Tue Mar 08 00:00:00 EST 2022}
}
Works referenced in this record:
Design, Optimization, and In-Depth Understanding of Front and Rear Junction Screen-Printed Double-Side Passivated Contacts Solar Cells
conference, June 2020
- Jain, Aditi; Choi, Wook-Jin; Huang, Ying-Yuan
- 2020 IEEE 47th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2020 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)
Effective passivation of Si surfaces by plasma deposited SiOx/a-SiNx:H stacks
journal, May 2011
- Dingemans, G.; Mandoc, M. M.; Bordihn, S.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 22
n-Type polysilicon passivating contact for industrial bifacial n-type solar cells
journal, December 2016
- Stodolny, M. K.; Lenes, M.; Wu, Y.
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 158
Study of screen printed metallization for polysilicon based passivating contacts
journal, September 2017
- Çiftpınar, Hande E.; Stodolny, Maciej K.; Wu, Yu
- Energy Procedia, Vol. 124
A review of focused ion beam milling techniques for TEM specimen preparation
journal, June 1999
- Giannuzzi, L. A.; Stevie, F. A.
- Micron, Vol. 30, Issue 3
An improved TMAH Si-etching solution without attacking exposed aluminum
journal, March 2001
- Yan, Guizhen; Chan, Philip C. H.; Hsing, I-Ming
- Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 89, Issue 1-2
Analysis of Silicon Solar Cells With Poly-Si/SiOx Carrier-Selective Base and Emitter Contacts
journal, January 2018
- Nicolai, Massimo; Zanuccoli, Mauro; Feldmann, Frank
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Controlling the fixed charge and passivation properties of Si(100)/Al 2 O 3 interfaces using ultrathin SiO 2 interlayers synthesized by atomic layer deposition
journal, November 2011
- Dingemans, G.; Terlinden, N. M.; Verheijen, M. A.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 9
Tuning of Etching Rate by Implantation: Silicon, Polysilicon and Oxide
conference, January 2006
- Charavel, Rémy; Raskin, Jean-Pierre
- ION IMPLANTATION TECHNOLOGY: 16th International Conference on Ion Implantation Technology - IIT 2006, AIP Conference Proceedings
Optimization of front SiNx/ITO stacks for high-efficiency two-side contacted c-Si solar cells with co-annealed front and rear passivating contacts
journal, January 2021
- Meyer, Frank; Savoy, Arnaud; Diaz Leon, Juan J.
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 219
pH-controlled TMAH Etchants For Silicon Micromachining
conference, January 1995
- Tabata, O.
- Proceedings of the International Solid-State Sensors and Actuators Conference - TRANSDUCERS '95
Origins of silicon solar cell passivation by SiNx:H anneal
journal, April 2002
- Boehme, Christoph; Lucovsky, Gerald
- Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Vol. 299-302
Field effect passivation of high efficiency silicon solar cells
journal, March 1993
- Abere, A.; Glunz, S.; Warta, W.
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 29, Issue 2
Polycrystalline silicon passivated tunneling contacts for high efficiency silicon solar cells
journal, March 2016
- Nemeth, Bill; Young, David L.; Page, Matthew R.
- Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 31, Issue 6, p. 671-681
Trapped positive charge in plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon dioxide films
journal, March 1990
- Buchanan, D. A.; Stathis, J. H.; Wagner, P. R.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 56, Issue 11
TMAH etching of silicon and the interaction of etching parameters
journal, December 1997
- Thong, J. T. L.; Choi, W. K.; Chong, C. W.
- Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 63, Issue 3
Selective tunnel oxide passivated contact on the emitter of large-size n-type TOPCon bifacial solar cells
journal, July 2021
- Yu, Bo; Shi, Jinchao; Li, Feng
- Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 870
Minority carrier lifetime degradation in boron-doped Czochralski silicon
journal, September 2001
- Glunz, S. W.; Rein, S.; Lee, J. Y.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 90, Issue 5
~23% rear side poly-Si/SiO2 passivated silicon solar cell with optimized ion-implanted boron emitter and screen-printed contacts
journal, September 2021
- Huang, Ying-Yuan; Ok, Young-Woo; Madani, Keeya
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 230
Excellent passivation of highly doped p-type Si surfaces by the negative-charge-dielectric Al2O3
journal, September 2007
- Hoex, B.; Schmidt, J.; Bock, R.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 91, Issue 11
Double-sided TOPCon solar cells on textured wafer with ALD SiOx layer
journal, April 2020
- Lozac'h, Mickaël; Nunomura, Shota; Matsubara, Koji
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 207
TOPCon – Technology options for cost efficient industrial manufacturing
journal, August 2021
- Kafle, Bishal; Goraya, Baljeet Singh; Mack, Sebastian
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 227
Role of polysilicon in poly-Si/SiO x passivating contacts for high-efficiency silicon solar cells
journal, January 2019
- Park, HyunJung; Bae, Soohyun; Park, Se Jin
- RSC Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 40
Comparison of etch characteristics of KOH, TMAH and EDP for bulk micromachining of silicon (110)
journal, September 2011
- Dutta, Shankar; Imran, Md; Kumar, P.
- Microsystem Technologies, Vol. 17, Issue 10-11
Self-Aligned, Selective Area Poly-Si/SiO 2 Passivated Contacts for Enhanced Photocurrent in Front/Back Solar Cells
conference, June 2019
- Young, David L.; Theingi, San; LaSalvia, Vincenzo
- 2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)
Bulk micromachining of silicon in TMAH-based etchants for aluminum passivation and smooth surface
journal, April 2006
- Biswas, K.; Das, S.; Maurya, D. K.
- Microelectronics Journal, Vol. 37, Issue 4
Determining Components of Series Resistance from Measurements on a Finished Cell
conference, May 2006
- Meier, D.; Good, E.; Garcia, R.
- 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conference
Reactive ion etched, self-aligned, selective area poly-Si/SiO2 passivated contacts
journal, November 2020
- Young, David L.; Chen, Kejun; Theingi, San
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 217
Quasi-steady-state photoconductance, a new method for solar cell material and device characterization
conference, January 1996
- Sinton, R. A.; Cuevas, A.; Stuckings, M.
- Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996
Advancement in screen printed fire through silver paste metallisation of polysilicon based passivating contacts
conference, January 2021
- Chaudhary, Aditya; Hoß, Jan; Lossen, Jan
- PROCEEDINGS OF THE 9TH WORKSHOP ON METALLIZATION AND INTERCONNECTION FOR CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS, AIP Conference Proceedings
The application of poly-Si/SiOx contacts as passivated top/rear contacts in Si solar cells
journal, January 2017
- Feldmann, Frank; Reichel, Christian; Müller, Ralph
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 159
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells With Coannealed Electron- and Hole-Selective SiC x Passivating Contacts
journal, November 2018
- Nogay, Gizem; Ballif, Christophe; Ingenito, Andrea
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 6
High-efficiency n-type silicon PERT bifacial solar cells with selective emitters and poly-Si based passivating contacts
journal, November 2019
- Ding, Don; Lu, Guilin; Li, Zhengping
- Solar Energy, Vol. 193
High-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells: status and perspectives
journal, January 2016
- Battaglia, Corsin; Cuevas, Andres; De Wolf, Stefaan
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 9, Issue 5
Silicon surface passivation by atomic layer deposited Al2O3
journal, August 2008
- Hoex, B.; Schmidt, J.; Pohl, P.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 104, Issue 4
Minority Carrier Recombination Properties of Crystalline Defect on Silicon Surface Induced by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition
journal, January 2016
- Tachibana, Tomihisa; Takai, Daisuke; Kojima, Takuto
- ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 9
Design rules for high-efficiency both-sides-contacted silicon solar cells with balanced charge carrier transport and recombination losses
journal, April 2021
- Richter, Armin; Müller, Ralph; Benick, Jan
- Nature Energy, Vol. 6, Issue 4
Structure and transformation of the metastable boron- and oxygen-related defect center in crystalline silicon
journal, January 2004
- Schmidt, Jan; Bothe, Karsten
- Physical Review B, Vol. 69, Issue 2
P-Type Versus n-Type Silicon Wafers: Prospects for High-Efficiency Commercial Silicon Solar Cells
journal, August 2006
- Cotter, J. E.; Guo, J. H.; Cousins, P. J.
- IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 53, Issue 8
Advantages of metal-insulator-semiconductor structures for silicon solar cells
journal, February 1983
- Green, M. A.; Blakers, A. W.
- Solar Cells, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Hydrogen induced passivation of Si interfaces by Al2O3 films and SiO2/Al2O3 stacks
journal, October 2010
- Dingemans, G.; Beyer, W.; van de Sanden, M. C. M.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 15, Article No. 152106
Carrier recombination at silicon–silicon nitride interfaces fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition
journal, April 1999
- Schmidt, Jan; Aberle, Armin G.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 7
Process development and integration of double-side Poly-Si passivated solar cells with printed contacts via LPCVD and ex-situ tube diffusion
journal, September 2021
- Yan, Xia; Suhaimi, Firdaus Bin; Xu, Menglei
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 230
Ultra‐Thin Poly‐Si Layers: Passivation Quality, Utilization of Charge Carriers Generated in the Poly‐Si and Application on Screen‐Printed Double‐Side Contacted Polycrystalline Si on Oxide Cells
journal, August 2020
- Larionova, Yevgeniya; Schulte-Huxel, Henning; Min, Byungsul
- Solar RRL, Vol. 4, Issue 10
Silicon Solar Cell Architecture with Front Selective and Rear Full Area Ion-Implanted Passivating Contacts
journal, June 2017
- Ingenito, Andrea; Limodio, Gianluca; Procel, Paul
- Solar RRL, Vol. 1, Issue 7
Adaption of Basic Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor (MIS) Theory for Passivating Contacts Within Numerical Solar Cell Modeling
journal, November 2018
- Fell, Andreas; Feldmann, Frank; Messmer, Christoph
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 6
Mass production of industrial tunnel oxide passivated contacts (i‐TOPCon) silicon solar cells with average efficiency over 23% and modules over 345 W
journal, July 2019
- Chen, Yifeng; Chen, Daming; Liu, Chengfa
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 27, Issue 10
Reassessment of the Limiting Efficiency for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells
journal, October 2013
- Richter, Armin; Hermle, Martin; Glunz, Stefan W.
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 3, Issue 4
24.58% total area efficiency of screen-printed, large area industrial silicon solar cells with the tunnel oxide passivated contacts (i-TOPCon) design
journal, March 2020
- Chen, Daming; Chen, Yifeng; Wang, Zigang
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 206
Wet Etching Behavior of Poly-Si in TMAH Solution
journal, December 2012
- Takahashi, Hiroaki; Otsuji, Masayuki; Snow, Jim
- Solid State Phenomena, Vol. 195
Surface passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells: Present and future
journal, December 2018
- Schmidt, Jan; Peibst, Robby; Brendel, Rolf
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 187
Passivated rear contacts for high-efficiency n-type Si solar cells providing high interface passivation quality and excellent transport characteristics
journal, January 2014
- Feldmann, Frank; Bivour, Martin; Reichel, Christian
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 120
Influence of Polysilicon Thickness on Properties of Screen‐Printed Silver Paste Metallized Silicon Oxide/Polysilicon Passivated Contacts
journal, August 2021
- Chaudhary, Aditya; Hoß, Jan; Lossen, Jan
- physica status solidi (a), Vol. 218, Issue 18
High efficiency n-type silicon solar cells with passivating contacts based on PECVD silicon films doped by phosphorus diffusion
journal, May 2019
- Yan, Di; Phang, Sieu Pheng; Wan, Yimao
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 193
TMAH/IPA anisotropic etching characteristics
journal, June 1993
- Merlos, A.; Acero, M.; Bao, M. H.
- Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 37-38
Efficiency Roadmap for Evolutionary Upgrades of PERC Solar Cells by TOPCon: Impact of Parasitic Absorption
journal, March 2020
- Messmer, Christoph; Fell, Andreas; Feldmann, Frank
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Passivating electron contact based on highly crystalline nanostructured silicon oxide layers for silicon solar cells
journal, December 2016
- Stuckelberger, Josua; Nogay, Gizem; Wyss, Philippe
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 158
Effects of mechanical agitation and surfactant additive on silicon anisotropic etching in alkaline KOH solution
journal, March 2005
- Yang, Chii-Rong; Chen, Po-Ying; Chiou, Yuang-Cherng
- Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 119, Issue 1
Investigation of charge carrier injection in silicon nitride/silicon junctions
journal, July 1996
- Elmiger, J. R.; Kunst, M.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 4
Passivating contacts and tandem concepts: Approaches for the highest silicon-based solar cell efficiencies
journal, June 2020
- Hermle, Martin; Feldmann, Frank; Bivour, Martin
- Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Anisotropic etching of silicon in TMAH solutions
journal, July 1992
- Tabata, Osamu; Asahi, Ryouji; Funabashi, Hirofumi
- Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 34, Issue 1
Introducing pinhole magnification by selective etching: application to poly-Si on ultra-thin silicon oxide films
journal, September 2017
- Tetzlaff, Dominic; Dzinnik, Marvin; Krügener, Jan
- Energy Procedia, Vol. 124
Passivating Contacts for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: From Concepts and Materials to Prospects
journal, March 2018
- Melskens, Jimmy; van de Loo, Bas W. H.; Macco, Bart
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 2
Status and prospects of Al 2 O 3 -based surface passivation schemes for silicon solar cells
journal, July 2012
- Dingemans, G.; Kessels, W. M. M.
- Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 30, Issue 4
Silicon anisotropic etching of TMAH solution
conference, January 2001
- Sonphao, W.; Chaisirikul, S.
- ISIE 2001. 2001 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics Proceedings (Cat. No.01TH8570)