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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Thin-film polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Final report, 11 September 1979-10 September 1980

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5838033
The object of this work is to understand more about the electrical and optical properties of polycrystalline silicon. This supports the overall goal of obtaining a low-cost, thin-film silicon-cell technology. Quantum-efficiency and laser-scanning techniques were used to determine the diffusion length inside grains and the surface recombination velocity at grain boundaries. For Wacker Silso material we find L = 180 ..mu..m, s = 7 x 10/sup 3/ cm/s, and the average grain size is 1 mm. Several new techniques were developed, including laser scan photoconductivity and liquid-crystal methods. Both of these techniques are sensitive to majority carriers. Solar cells made on Wacker Silso were 18% lower in efficiency than corresponding single-crystal control cells with half of this loss due to grain boundaries. Atomic hydrogen passivation did not improve the efficiency of Wacker Silso solar cells. Direct evidence of phosphorus diffusion down grain boundaries was found. Additional work included deep-level transient spectroscopy, electron-channeling patterns, and work with silicon bi-crystals.
Research Organization:
RCA Labs., Princeton, NJ (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-77CH00178
OSTI ID:
5838033
Report Number(s):
SERI/PR-0-8276-F; ON: DE82001574
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English