Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

Reichel, Christian; Feldmann, Frank; Müller, Ralph; Reedy, Robert C.; Lee, Benjamin G.; Young, David L.; Stradins, Paul; Hermle, Martin; Glunz, Stefan W.

doi:10.1063/1.4936223

Title: Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936223· OSTI ID:1235416

Reichel, Christian ^[1]; Feldmann, Frank ^[2]; Müller, Ralph ^[2]; Reedy, Robert C. ^[3]; Lee, Benjamin G. ^[3];

^[3]; Stradins, Paul ^[3]; Hermle, Martin ^[2]; Glunz, Stefan W. ^[2]

Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Freiburg (Germany); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Freiburg (Germany)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Passivated contacts (poly-Si/SiO_x/c-Si) doped by shallow ion implantation are an appealing technology for high efficiency silicon solar cells, especially for interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells where a masked ion implantation facilitates their fabrication. This paper presents a study on tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by low-energy ion implantation into amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers and examines the influence of the ion species (P, B, or BF2), the ion implantation dose (5 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2 to 1 × 10¹⁶ cm^–2), and the subsequent high-temperature anneal (800 °C or 900 °C) on the passivation quality and junction characteristics using double-sided contacted silicon solar cells. Excellent passivation quality is achieved for n-type passivated contacts by P implantations into either intrinsic (undoped) or in-situ B-doped a-Si layers with implied open-circuit voltages (iV_oc) of 725 and 720 mV, respectively. For p-type passivated contacts, BF2 implantations into intrinsic a-Si yield well passivated contacts and allow for iV_oc of 690 mV, whereas implanted B gives poor passivation with iV_oc of only 640 mV. While solar cells featuring in-situ B-doped selective hole contacts and selective electron contacts with P implanted into intrinsic a-Si layers achieved V_oc of 690 mV and fill factor (FF) of 79.1%, selective hole contacts realized by BF₂ implantation into intrinsic a-Si suffer from drastically reduced FF which is caused by a non-Ohmic Schottky contact. Lastly, implanting P into in-situ B-doped a-Si layers for the purpose of overcompensation (counterdoping) allowed for solar cells with V_oc of 680 mV and FF of 80.4%, providing a simplified and promising fabrication process for IBC solar cells featuring passivated contacts.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE SunShot Program to Advance Solar Cell Efficiency II (FPACE); German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; EE0006336

OSTI ID:: 1235416

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1226875

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-65649; JAPIAU

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 20; Related Information: Journal of Applied Physics; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 51 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (37)

High-performance transistors with arsenic-implanted polysil emitters Graul, J.; Glasl, A.; Murrmann, H. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/JSSC.1976.1050764	journal	August 1976
A silicon heterojunction transistor Matsushita, T.; Oh‐uchi, N.; Hayashi, H. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 35, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.91174	journal	October 1979
A 720 mV open circuit voltage SiO _x : c ‐Si:SiO _x double heterostructure solar cell Yablonovitch, E.; Gmitter, T.; Swanson, R. M. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 47, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.96331	journal	December 1985
A polysilicon emitter solar cell Tarr, N. G. IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1109/EDL.1985.26264	journal	December 1985
Heavily doped polysilicon-contact solar cells Lindholm, F. A.; Neugroschel, A.; Arienzo, M. IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/EDL.1985.26155	journal	July 1985
Polysilicon emitters for silicon concentrator solar cells Gan, J. Y.; Swanson, R. M. IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111625	conference	January 1990
Achievement of More Than 25% Conversion Efficiency With Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell Masuko, Keiichiro; Shigematsu, Masato; Hashiguchi, Taiki IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2352151	journal	November 2014
Passivated rear contacts for high-efficiency n-type Si solar cells providing high interface passivation quality and excellent transport characteristics Feldmann, Frank; Bivour, Martin; Reichel, Christian Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 120 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2013.09.017	journal	January 2014
Recombination behavior and contact resistance of n+ and p+ poly-crystalline Si/mono-crystalline Si junctions Römer, Udo; Peibst, Robby; Ohrdes, Tobias Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.003	journal	December 2014
Interdigitated Back Passivated Contact (IBPC) Solar Cells Formed by Ion Implantation Young, David L.; Nemeth, William; LaSalvia, Vincenzo IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2483364	journal	January 2016
Carrier-selective contacts for Si solar cells Feldmann, F.; Simon, M.; Bivour, M. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4875904	journal	May 2014
Investigation of boron diffusion in polysilicon and its application to the design of p-n-p polysilicon emitter bipolar transistors with shallow emitter junctions Post, I. R. C.; Ashburn, P. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 38, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.97407	journal	January 1991
Ion implantation into amorphous Si layers to form carrier-selective contacts for Si solar cells: Ion implantation into amorphous Si layers to form carrier-selective contacts for Si solar cells Feldmann, Frank; Müller, Ralph; Reichel, Christian physica status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letters, Vol. 08, Issue 09 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.201409312	journal	August 2014
Phosphorus-diffused polysilicon contacts for solar cells Yan, Di; Cuevas, Andres; Bullock, James Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2015.06.001	journal	November 2015
Effects of fluorine in silicon solar cells with polysilicon contacts CastaÃ±er, L. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 53, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0248(98)00017-8	journal	May 1998
Ion Implantation for Poly-Si Passivated Back-Junction Back-Contacted Solar Cells Romer, Udo; Peibst, Robby; Ohrdes, Tobias IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2382975	journal	March 2015
Nitric acid oxidation of Si to form ultrathin silicon dioxide layers with a low leakage current density Kobayashi Asuha, Hikaru; Maida, Osamu; Takahashi, Masao Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 94, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1621720	journal	December 2003
Simple Cleaning and Conditioning of Silicon Surfaces with UV/Ozone Sources Moldovan, Anamaria; Feldmann, Frank; Krugel, Georg Energy Procedia, Vol. 55 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.08.067	journal	January 2014
Efficient carrier-selective p- and n-contacts for Si solar cells Feldmann, Frank; Simon, Maik; Bivour, Martin Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.05.039	journal	December 2014
Contactless determination of current–voltage characteristics and minority‐carrier lifetimes in semiconductors from quasi‐steady‐state photoconductance data Sinton, Ronald A.; Cuevas, Andres Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.117723	journal	October 1996
Damage at hydrogenated amorphous/crystalline silicon interfaces by indium tin oxide overlayer sputtering Demaurex, Bénédicte; De Wolf, Stefaan; Descoeudres, Antoine Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4764529	journal	October 2012
Analysis and optimization approach for the doped amorphous layers of silicon heterojunction solar cells Pysch, Damian; Meinhard, Christoph; Harder, Nils-Peter Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3650255	journal	November 2011
Gate Oxide Degradation in the Polysilicon Doping/Activation Process Flowers, Derv Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 134, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2100534	journal	January 1987
An investigation of the thermal stability of the interfacial oxide in polycrystalline silicon emitter bipolar transistors by comparing device results with high‐resolution electron microscopy observations Wolstenholme, G. R.; Jorgensen, N.; Ashburn, P. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 61, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.338861	journal	January 1987
The effect of fluorine in silicon dioxide gate dielectrics Wright, P. J.; Saraswat, K. C. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 36, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.299669	journal	May 1989
A comprehensive study on p/sup +/ polysilicon-gate MOSFET's instability with fluorine incorporation Sung, J. J.; Lu, C. -Y. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 37, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.62294	journal	November 1990
Boron, fluorine, and carrier profiles for B and BF ₂ implants into crystalline and amorphous Si Wilson, R. G. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.331993	journal	December 1983
Effect of fluorine on the diffusion of boron in ion implanted Si Downey, Daniel F.; Chow, Judy W.; Ishida, Emi Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 73, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.122146	journal	August 1998
Fluorine in Si: Native-defect complexes and the suppression of impurity diffusion Lopez, Giorgia M.; Fiorentini, Vincenzo; Impellizzeri, Giuliana Physical Review B, Vol. 72, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.045219	journal	July 2005
Anomalous diffusion of fluorine in silicon Jeng, S. ‐P.; Ma, T. ‐P.; Canteri, R. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 61, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.107575	journal	September 1992
A comprehensive study of suppression of boron penetration by amorphous-Si gate in P/sup +/-gate PMOS devices IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 42, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.477764	journal	January 1995
Epitaxial regrowth of n ⁺ and p ⁺ polycrystalline silicon layers given single and double diffusions Williams, J. D.; Ashburn, P. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 72, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.351480	journal	October 1992
Enhancement of oxide break-up by implantation of fluorine in poly-Si emitter contacted p/sup +/-n shallow junction formation IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/55.285410	journal	April 1994
Recrystallization of implanted amorphous silicon layers. II. Migration of fluorine in BF ⁺ ₂ ‐implanted silicon Tsai, M. Y.; Day, D. S.; Streetman, B. G. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 50, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.325689	journal	January 1979
Electrical characteristics and contact resistance of B ⁺ -and BF ₂ ⁺ -implanted silicon diodes with furnace and rapid thermal annealing Simard-Normandin, M. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 32, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/T-ED.1985.22124	journal	July 1985
Doping characteristics of BF/sub 2//sup +/ implants in >100< and >111< silicon Drobny, V. F.; Rubalcava, J. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 48, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.936586	journal	January 2001
Analysis of the improved contact resistance in metal-p+ silicon Schottky barriers using the BF2/B mixed implantation Lee, Jung-Ho; Yeo, In-Seok; Lee, Jeong-Youb Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 75, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.124669	journal	August 1999

Cited By (4)

Implantation‐based passivating contacts for crystalline silicon front/rear contacted solar cells Limodio, Gianluca; Yang, Guangtao; De Groot, Yvar Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 28, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3250	journal	January 2020
Dielectric surface passivation for silicon solar cells: A review Bonilla, Ruy S.; Hoex, Bram; Hamer, Phillip physica status solidi (a), Vol. 214, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201700293	journal	June 2017
A passivating contact for silicon solar cells formed during a single firing thermal annealing Ingenito, Andrea; Nogay, Gizem; Jeangros, Quentin Nature Energy, Vol. 3, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0239-4	journal	September 2018
Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiO _x contacts for Si solar cells using Al ₂ O ₃ studied with deuterium Schnabel, Manuel; van de Loo, Bas W. H.; Nemeth, William Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5031118	journal	May 2018

Similar Records

Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

Journal Article · Sat Nov 28 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1235416

Reichel, Christian; Feldmann, Frank; Müller, Ralph; +6 more

Design and application of ion-implanted polySi passivating contacts for interdigitated back contact c-Si solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Jan 18 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:1235416

Yang, Guangtao; Ingenito, Andrea; Hameren, Nienke van; +2 more

New Approaches to Low-Cost Scalable Doping of Interdigitated back Contact Silicon Solar Cells (Final Report)

Technical Report · Wed Mar 31 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · OSTI ID:1235416

Agarwal, Sumit; Stradins, Pauls

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
amorphous semiconductors
passivation
ion implantation
silicon doping
silicon solar cells
semiconductor structures
oxides
Ohmic contacts
semiconductor materials
ion sources
chemical vapor deposition
electrical properties and parameters
solar cells
annealing

Title: Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

Citation Formats

References (37)

Cited By (4)

Similar Records

Related Subjects