Amorphous silicon solar cells. Quarterly report No. 3, January 1--March 31, 1977

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:6070869

Carlson, D E

A detailed study of the photoluminescence, photoconductivity, and infrared absorption of discharge-produced a-Si has shown the optimum substrate temperature to be approx. 300 to 350/sup 0/C. The photovoltaic properties of a-Si solar cells are also optimized by deposition of the a-Si in this temperature range. The out-diffusion of hydrogen apparently creates defect states such as dangling bonds when the substrate temperature exceeds approx. 350/sup 0/C. The concentration of bonded hydrogen increases as the power is increased in a rf(E) electrodeless discharge in SiH/sub 4/. The dark conductivity and photoconductivity decrease significantly as the power increases. In general, both the dark conductivity and the photoconductivity of a-Si films depend on the thermal and optical history. Exposure to light causes the dark conductivity and photoconductivity to decrease; these changes can be reversed by annealing for a few minutes at temperatures approx. > 150/sup 0/C. Amorphous-silicon solar cells have been fabricated with fill factors as high as 0.674. These cells exhibited space charge densities of 1.5 x 10/sup 15//cm/sup 3/ in the dark and 2.5 x 10/sup 16//cm/sup 3/ in AM1 illumination. Although the best conversion efficiency to date is approx. 5.5%, the product of the best values of V/sub oc/, J/sub sc/, and the factor yields approx. 8%.

• Research Organization: RCA Labs., Princeton, NJ (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6070869
• Report Number(s): SAN-1286-3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603 -- Materials-- Properties
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIFFUSION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
FILL FACTORS
FLUIDS
HYDROGEN
INFRARED RADIATION
LUMINESCENCE
NONMETALS
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SUBSTRATES