Synchrotron-based investigation of transition-metal getterability in n-type multicrystalline silicon
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Supreme Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (United States)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
Solar cells based on n-type multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers are a promising path to reduce the cost per kWh of photovoltaics; however, the full potential of the material and how to optimally process it are still unknown. Process optimization requires knowledge of the response of the metal-silicide precipitate distribution to processing, which has yet to be directly measured and quantified. To supply this missing piece, we use synchrotron-based micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) to quantitatively map >250 metal-rich particles in n-type mc-Si wafers before and after phosphorus diffusion gettering (PDG). We find that 820°C PDG is sufficient to remove precipitates of fast-diffusing impurities and that 920°C PDG can eliminate precipitated Fe to below the detection limit of μ-XRF. Thus, the evolution of precipitated metal impurities during PDG is observed to be similar for n- and p-type mc-Si, an observation consistent with calculations of the driving forces for precipitate dissolution and segregation gettering. Measurements show that minority-carrier lifetime increases with increasing precipitate dissolution from 820°C to 880°C PDG, and that the lifetime after PDG at 920°C is between the lifetimes achieved after 820°C and 880°C PDG.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; ECS-0335765; NSF/1122374; AC0206CH11357; NSF CA No. EEC-1041895
- OSTI ID:
- 1395889
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1253398
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 20; ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
The Relationship between Chemical Flexibility and Nanoscale Charge Collection in Hybrid Halide Perovskites
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journal | March 2018 |
Cu gettering by phosphorus-doped emitters in p -type silicon: Effect on light-induced degradation
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journal | January 2018 |
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