Novel buried contact technology for advanced silicon solar cells

Book · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:191058

Ni Dheasuna, C; Mathewson, A; Hecking, L; Wrixon, G T ^[1]

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1. National Microelectronics Research Centre, Cork (Ireland)

Increased efficiency of silicon solar cells has resulted in the increased complexity and cost of manufacture. Optical properties can be enhanced by increasing the optical path length, while minimizing both bulk and surface recombination. Conventional silicon based solar cells are fabricated by a series of physical or chemical vapor deposition processes followed by photolithography and etching processes for each layer. These repeated deposition and etching cycles are not only difficult to perform but they also generate severe surface topography. This topography is a major cause of yield loss and reliability problems for advanced solar cells. These problems are especially severe for high aspect ratio contact holes. An alternative method of performing this metallization inexpensively and reliably is by the use of electroless plating. As the plating process occurs selectively on Si and not on the surface passivation layer, thick metal films (Ni and Cu) can be deposited which depend entirely upon the depth of the trench used. The advantages of electroless plating as an alternative to standard metallization will be presented.

• OSTI ID: 191058
• Report Number(s): CONF-941203--; ISBN 0-7803-1459-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
ARSENIC
BORON
COPPER
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FABRICATION
ION IMPLANTATION
METALLOGRAPHY
MICROSTRUCTURE
NICKEL
PHOSPHORUS
PLATING
SILICON OXIDES
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SURFACE COATING