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Title: Molybdenum oxide MoO{sub x}: A versatile hole contact for silicon solar cells

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4903467· OSTI ID:22395473
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Research School of Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 (Australia)
  2. Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf (Switzerland)

This letter examines the application of transparent MoO{sub x} (x < 3) films deposited by thermal evaporation directly onto crystalline silicon (c-Si) to create hole-conducting contacts for silicon solar cells. The carrier-selectivity of MoO{sub x} based contacts on both n- and p-type surfaces is evaluated via simultaneous consideration of the contact recombination parameter J{sub 0c} and the contact resistivity ρ{sub c}. Contacts made to p-type wafers and p{sup +} diffused regions achieve optimum ρ{sub c} values of 1 and 0.2 mΩ·cm{sup 2}, respectively, and both result in a J{sub 0c} of ∼200 fA/cm{sup 2}. These values suggest that significant gains can be made over conventional hole contacts to p-type material. Similar MoO{sub x} contacts made to n-type silicon result in higher J{sub 0c} and ρ{sub c} with optimum values of ∼300 fA/cm{sup 2} and 30 mΩ·cm{sup 2} but still offer significant advantages over conventional approaches in terms of contact passivation, optical properties, and device fabrication.

OSTI ID:
22395473
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 23; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English