Sputtered amorphous silicon solar cells. Final report, 22 July 1982-22 July 1983

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6284011· OSTI ID:6284011

Moustakas, T. D.; Maruska, H. P.; Wronski, C. R.

This document reports on research conducted to further develop reactive sputtering of amorphous silicon solar cell applications. The major goals of the program were to develop intrinsic material capable of generating a short-circuit current density of 12 to 13 mA/cm/sup 2/ and an open-circuit voltage of 0.9; to investigate the mechanism of doping of sputtered a-SiH/sub x/ and ..mu..c-SiH/sub x/ films and develop methods to dope these layers; to investigate the origin of the low fill factor; to demonstrate a complete p-i-n solar cell structure fabricated totally from silicon targets, without any gas-phase toxic dopants; and to fabricate p-i-n solar cells having efficiencies of 6% or larger. Results showed that the properties of intrinsic and doped sputtered amorphous silicon films can be optimized to produce high-efficiency cells. The photovoltaic properties of the intrinsic films depended on structural and compositional inhomogeneities, amount of incorporated hydrogen, and low levels of dopant impurities. Amorphous and microcrystalline phosphorus- and boron-doped films were characterized through studies of their optical and transport properties; the superiority of the microcrystalline films for photovoltaic applications has been demonstrated. The 5.5% efficiency obtained with the p-i-n solar cell structures can be improved by depositing the three layers in sequential dedicated chambers and by such design concepts as back reflective contacts and transparent a-SiC front contacts.

• Research Organization: Exxon Research and Engineering Co., Annandale, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6284011
• Report Number(s): SERI/STR-211-2363; ON: DE84013002
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
AMORPHOUS STATE
BORON
CRYSTAL DOPING
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILL FACTORS
FILMS
NONMETALS
PERFORMANCE
PHOSPHORUS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPUTTERING
THIN FILMS