Amorphous-silicon solar cells. Final report, 1 October 1980-31 December 1981

Technical Report · Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5357591

Carlson, D. E.; Crandall, R. S.; Dresner, J.; Goldstein, B.; Hanak, J. J.; Moore, A. R.; Redfield, D.; Schade, H. E.; Weakliem, H. A.

An analysis of the transport in p-i-n cells indicates that back diffusion of carriers can account for approximately half of the observed losses in the collection efficiency at short wavelengths. Auger electron spectroscopy has been used to show that a-Si:H films become continuous after 40 to 50 A of growth. High conductivity films have been produced in both dc and rf discharges and consist of a mixture of microcrystalline and amorphous phases in both cases. The surface photovoltage method has been used to measure hole diffusion lengths in undoped a-Si:H as large as 1.1 ..mu..m (while exposed to 0.1-AMl illumination). The Hall mobility in p-type a-Si:H films can exhibit either a positive or negative sign depending on boron doping level and measurement temperature; values as large as 0.2 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/ have been observed at room temperature. We have fabricated p-i-n solar cells using microcrystalline p-layers, and these cells have exhibited conversion efficiencies as high as 6.6% and open-circuit voltages as high as 920 mV. With a-(Si,C):H p layers, open-circuit voltages as large as 933 mV have been observed. Photovoltage profiling of p-i-n cells has shown that most of the open-circuit voltage is generated by the p/i interface and that unstable cells possess a zero-field region near the center of the i layer. Contact studies have shown that the contribution of the TCO/p interface to the series resistance is usually negligible, but the n/Ti-Al interface may contribute 1 to 10 ..cap omega.. cm/sup 2/.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst. (SERI), Golden, CO (United States); RCA Labs., Princeton, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-77CH00178
• OSTI ID: 5357591
• Report Number(s): SERI/PR-0-9372-5; ON: DE82018612
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
SILICON
DEPOSITION
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
STABILITY
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
PERFORMANCE
AMORPHOUS STATE
BAND THEORY
CARRIER MOBILITY
CRYSTAL DOPING
DIFFUSION LENGTH
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY GAP
FABRICATION
FILMS
GLOW DISCHARGES
HOLES
INFRARED SPECTRA
INTERFACES
OPTIMIZATION
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
SILANES
DIMENSIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FERMIONS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LENGTH
LEPTONS
LUMINESCENCE
MOBILITY
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATION EFFECTS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTRA
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion