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High-Performance and Traditional Multicrystalline Silicon: Comparing Gettering Responses and Lifetime-Limiting Defects

Journal Article · · IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
In recent years, high-performance multicrystalline silicon (HPMC-Si) has emerged as an attractive alternative to traditional ingot-based multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si), with a similar cost structure but improved cell performance. Herein, we evaluate the gettering response of traditional mc-Si and HPMC-Si. Microanalytical techniques demonstrate that HPMC-Si and mc-Si share similar lifetime-limiting defect types but have different relative concentrations and distributions. HPMC-Si shows a substantial lifetime improvement after P-gettering compared with mc-Si, chiefly because of lower area fraction of dislocation-rich clusters. In both materials, the dislocation clusters and grain boundaries were associated with relatively higher interstitial iron point-defect concentrations after diffusion, which is suggestive of dissolving metal-impurity precipitates. The relatively fewer dislocation clusters in HPMC-Si are shown to exhibit similar characteristics to those found in mc-Si. Given similar governing principles, a proxy to determine relative recombination activity of dislocation clusters developed for mc-Si is successfully transferred to HPMC-Si.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE U.S. Department of Energy
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1390786
Journal Information:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Journal Name: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 6; ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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