Current transport in amorphous silicon {ital n}/{ital p} junctions and their application as ``tunnel`` junctions in tandem solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.115452· OSTI ID:83899

Hegedus, S S ^[1]; Kampas, F; Xi, J ^[2]

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1. Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, United States Department of Energy, University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Newark, Delaware 19716 (United States)
2. Advanced Photovoltaic Systems, P. O. Box 7093, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)

Current transport in {ital a}-Si based {ital n}/{ital p} (``tunnel``) junctions is investigated using current-voltage- temperature and quantum efficiency measurements. Currents are nearly ohmic and temperature independent under typical solar cell operating conditions. Incorporating a thin {ital a}-Si(B) {ital p}{sup +} layer between the {ital n} and {ital p} layers and replacing either {ital a}-Si layer with a microcrystalline layer improves the device by reducing the resistance and increasing the recombination. Light soaking improves the devices slightly. These results are consistent with a recently proposed recombination-tunneling model. Incorporating improved interconnect junctions in tandem solar cell devices improved the initial and stabilized performance. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital American} {ital Institute} {ital of} {ital Physics}.

• OSTI ID: 83899
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: 7 Aug 1995
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
DESIGN
SILICON
AMORPHOUS STATE
P-N JUNCTIONS
TUNNELING
TUNNEL DIODES
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
RECOMBINATION