Tunnel oxide passivating contact enabled by polysilicon on ultra-thin SiO2 for advanced silicon radiation detectors

Tao, Yuguo; Duce, Mackenzie; Erickson, Anna

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-68368-w

Tunnel oxide passivating contact enabled by polysilicon on ultra-thin SiO₂ for advanced silicon radiation detectors

Journal Article · Sat Jul 27 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68368-w· OSTI ID:2471895

Tao, Yuguo ^[1]; Duce, Mackenzie ^[2]; Erickson, Anna ^[2]

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

Conventional silicon junction detectors encounter significant carrier recombination within the heavily doped p⁺ and n⁺ layers, as well as beneath the metal contact regions, creating the so-called “dead layers”, especially on the detector side. In this study, we present the tunnel oxide passivating contact with doped polysilicon on oxide, which demonstrates exceptional surface passivation and carrier selectivity. The key innovation lies in an ultra-thin (~ 1.5 nm) interfacial oxide layer that facilitates efficient majority carrier transportation via tunneling while effectively block minority carriers. Remarkably low saturation current densities, ranging from 5 to 10 fA/cm² even with the metal contact, underscore the superiority of both n-type and p-type tunnel oxide passivating contacts. In contrast, conventional p–n junction or high-low junction exhibit saturation current densities ranging from 10 to 90 fA/cm² in the studied p⁺ and n⁺ layers with surface passivation schemes due to Auger recombination and surface recombination, and 1000–6000 fA/cm² with metal contacts due to intense metal-induced recombination at the interface. These findings indicate the potential and superiority of implementing n-type tunnel oxide passivating contact on the detector side and p-type contact on the back side for advanced silicon radiation detectors. This approach would enable thorough collection of generated charge carriers along the track of incident ionizing radiation particles, leading to improved energy resolution and reduced noise levels.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003921

OSTI ID:: 2471895

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2475395

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (28)

26.1%‐efficient POLO‐IBC cells: Quantification of electrical and optical loss mechanisms Hollemann, Christina; Haase, Felix; Schäfer, Sören Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 27, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3098	journal	October 2018
Silicon‐based passivating contacts: The TOPCon route Glunz, Stefan W.; Steinhauser, Bernd; Polzin, Jana‐Isabelle Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3522	journal	December 2021
Fabrication of low noise silicon radiation detectors by the planar process Kemmer, J. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 169, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(80)90948-9	journal	March 1980
Present status of room temperature semiconductor detectors Sakai, Eiji Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Vol. 196, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(82)90626-7	journal	May 1982
Improvement of detector fabrication by the planar process Kemmer, J. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 226, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-9002(84)90173-6	journal	September 1984
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
Bi-polysilicon passivating contact technique for crystalline silicon solar cell Kim, Sungheon; Jeong, Sungjin; Kim, Hongrae Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, Vol. 160 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2023.107453	journal	June 2023
Effects of annealing temperature on crystallisation kinetics, film properties and cell performance of silicon thin-film solar cells on glass Tao, Yuguo; Varlamov, Sergey; Kunz, Oliver Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 101 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2012.01.039	journal	June 2012
Tunnel oxide passivated carrier-selective contacts based on ultra-thin SiO 2 layers Moldovan, Anamaria; Feldmann, Frank; Zimmer, Martin Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2015.06.048	journal	November 2015
Working principle of carrier selective poly-Si/c-Si junctions: Is tunnelling the whole story? Peibst, R.; Römer, U.; Larionova, Y. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 158 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.05.045	journal	December 2016
SiO2 surface passivation layers – a key technology for silicon solar cells Glunz, Stefan W.; Feldmann, Frank Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.04.029	journal	October 2018
Surface passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells: Present and future Schmidt, Jan; Peibst, Robby; Brendel, Rolf Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 187 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.06.047	journal	December 2018
Polysilicon Passivating Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells: Interface Passivation and Carrier Transport Mechanism Liu, Wenzhu; Yang, Xinbo; Kang, Jingxuan ACS Applied Energy Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.8b02149	journal	June 2019
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
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
General Relationship for the Thermal Oxidation of Silicon Deal, B. E.; Grove, A. S. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 36, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1713945	journal	December 1965
Ultralow surface recombination of c-Si substrates passivated by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposited Al2O3 Hoex, B.; Heil, S. B. S.; Langereis, E. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2240736	journal	July 2006
The role of the interfacial layer in metal−semiconductor solar cells Fonash, Stephen J. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 46, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.321694	journal	March 1975
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
Crystal grain nucleation in amorphous silicon Spinella, Corrado; Lombardo, Salvatore; Priolo, Francesco Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 84, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.368873	journal	November 1998
Electron-Hole Recombination in Germanium Hall, R. N. Physical Review, Vol. 87, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.87.387	journal	July 1952
Statistics of the Recombinations of Holes and Electrons Shockley, W.; Read, W. T. Physical Review, Vol. 87, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.87.835	journal	September 1952
Energy Required to Produce One Ion Pair for Several Gases Weiss, J.; Bernstein, W. Physical Review, Vol. 98, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.98.1828	journal	June 1955
Polysilicon emitters for bipolar transistors: a review and re-evaluation of theory and experiment Post, I. R. C.; Ashburn, P.; Wolstenholme, G. R. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 39, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.141239	journal	July 1992
Modeling CMOS tunneling currents through ultrathin gate oxide due to conduction- and valence-band electron and hole tunneling Lee, Wen-Chin; Hu, Chenming IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 48, Issue 7, p. 1366-1373 https://doi.org/10.1109/16.930653	journal	July 2001
Silicon Detectors for Low Energy Particle Detection Tindall, C. S.; Palaio, N. P.; Ludewigt, B. A. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 55, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.2008.918527	journal	April 2008
Physical and electrical properties of noncrystalline Al2O3 prepared by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition Johnson, Robert S.; Lucovsky, Gerald; Baumvol, Isreal Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 19, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1379316	journal	July 2001
Silicon radiation detectors (Review) Akimov, Yu. K. Instruments and Experimental Techniques, Vol. 50, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020441207010010	journal	February 2007

Figures / Tables (12)

Similar Records

Silicon solar cells with polysilicon contacts

Technical Report · Wed Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1986 · OSTI ID:6822876

Large area tunnel oxide passivated rear contact n -type Si solar cells with 21.2% efficiency: Large area tunnel oxide passivated rear contact n -type Si solar cells

Journal Article · Wed Jan 20 23:00:00 EST 2016 · Progress in Photovoltaics · OSTI ID:1293939

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Engineering
Materials science
Nanoscience and technology
Physics
Science & Technology - Other Topics