The effect of oxidations on phosphorus-diffused crystalline-silicon substrates

Conference · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997

OSTI ID:515619

Gee, J M ^[1]; King, R R; Reiss, J H; Mitchell, K W ^[2]; Narayanan, S ^[3]

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1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Siemens Solar Industries, Camarillo, CA (United States)
3. Solarex, Frederick, MD (United States)

The authors examined the effect of oxidation on phosphorus-diffused crystalline-silicon p-type substrates. Oxidations subsequent to the phosphorus diffusion are of interest for passivating surfaces, and are commonly found in both high-efficiency laboratory-cell and commercial-cell fabrication sequences. The authors found a degradation of the bulk lifetime due to the oxidation in a variety of crystalline-silicon substrates that were diffused in various laboratories. The degradation was avoided if there was aluminum present on the back surface of the wafer during the oxidation. The study suggests that impurities gettered during the phosphorus diffusion can be released back into the bulk during a subsequent oxidation, and that the aluminum suppressed the bulk lifetime degradation by reabsorbing these released impurities.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 515619
• Report Number(s): SAND--97-0076C; CONF-970640--1; ON: DE97007271
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
DOPED MATERIALS
GETTERING
OXIDATION
P-TYPE CONDUCTORS
PASSIVATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOSPHORUS
SERVICE LIFE
SILICON
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SUBSTRATES