Amorphous thin films for solar-cell applications. Quarterly report No. 2, December 12, 1978 to March 11, 1979

Technical Report · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5757828

Carlson, D E; Balberg, I; Crandall, R S; Hanak, J J; Pankove, J I; Staebler, D L; Weakliem, H A

The present research program involves five tasks: theoretical modeling, deposition and doping studies, experimental methods for the characterization of a-Si:H, formation of solar-cell structures, and theoretical and experimental evaluation of solar-cell parameters. In the section on theoretical modeling, a theory for the quantum efficiency to produce free electron-hole pairs in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is presented. Recent results obtained with the rf magnetron deposition system are reported. Experimental results are included that show the deleterious effect of adding either helium or hydrogen to an SiH/sub 4/ discharge. Other experiments have shown that adding SiF/sub 4/ to SiH/sub 4/ discharges decreases the photoluminescence intensity of the a-Si:H:F films. Experimental results for the band mobilities, minority-carrier diffusion lengths (approx. 0.05 to 0.18 ..mu..m), and density of defect states are given. Information about the density of gap states has been obtained from measurements of the photoconductivity and from tunneling measurements. Information on some optimized fabrication parameters for inverted p-i-n cells is given. Also, the theoretical and experimental evaluation of solar-cell parameters is discussed. The breakdown voltage of p-i-n cells has been investigated, and a degradation has been observed in these cells after forward biasing to +3 V. The degradation of Pd-Schottky-barrier cells is due to the diffusion of Pd as well as OH groups into the a-Si:H.

• Research Organization: RCA Labs., Princeton, NJ (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5757828
• Report Number(s): SAN-2219-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
360603 -- Materials-- Properties
ADDITIVES
AMORPHOUS STATE
BREAKDOWN
CARRIER MOBILITY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DEPOSITION
DIFFUSION
DIFFUSION LENGTH
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRON TUBES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FERMIONS
FILMS
FLUIDS
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
HOLES
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGENATION
INTERACTIONS
LEPTONS
MAGNETRONS
METALS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MICROWAVE TUBES
MOBILITY
NONMETALS
OPTIMIZATION
PAIR PRODUCTION
PALLADIUM
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLASMA HEATING
PLATINUM METALS
SEMIMETALS
SILANES
SILICON
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON FLUORIDES
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
TRANSITION ELEMENTS