Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts for Si solar cells using Al2O3 studied with deuterium
Abstract
Here, the interplay between hydrogenation and passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts to n-type Si wafers is studied using atomic layer deposited Al2O3 and anneals in forming gas and nitrogen. The poly-Si/SiOx stacks are prepared by thermal oxidation followed by thermal crystallization of a-Si:H films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Implied open-circuit voltages as high as 710 mV are achieved for p-type poly-Si/SiOx contacts to n-type Si after hydrogenation. Correlating minority carrier lifetime data and secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles reveals that the main benefit of Al2O3 is derived from its role as a hydrogen source for chemically passivating defects at SiOx; Al2O3 layers are found to hydrogenate poly-Si/SiOx much better than a forming gas anneal. By labelling Al2O3 and the subsequent anneal with different hydrogen isotopes, it is found that Al2O3 exchanges most of its hydrogen with the ambient upon annealing at 400 °C for 1 h even though there is no significant net change in its total hydrogen content.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[2];
[2];
[1]
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Eindhoven Univ. of Technology, Eindhoven (The Netherlands)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1440399
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1437089
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5900-71231
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; SETP EE00030301
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 112; Journal Issue: 20; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; electrical properties; passivation; atomic layer deposition; secondary ion mass spectroscopy; isotopes; chemical reactions
Citation Formats
Schnabel, Manuel, van de Loo, Bas W. H., Nemeth, William, Macco, Bart, Stradins, Paul, Kessels, W. M. M., and Young, David L. Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts for Si solar cells using Al2O3 studied with deuterium. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.5031118.
Schnabel, Manuel, van de Loo, Bas W. H., Nemeth, William, Macco, Bart, Stradins, Paul, Kessels, W. M. M., & Young, David L. Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts for Si solar cells using Al2O3 studied with deuterium. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5031118
Schnabel, Manuel, van de Loo, Bas W. H., Nemeth, William, Macco, Bart, Stradins, Paul, Kessels, W. M. M., and Young, David L. Mon .
"Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts for Si solar cells using Al2O3 studied with deuterium". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5031118. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1440399.
@article{osti_1440399,
title = {Hydrogen passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts for Si solar cells using Al2O3 studied with deuterium},
author = {Schnabel, Manuel and van de Loo, Bas W. H. and Nemeth, William and Macco, Bart and Stradins, Paul and Kessels, W. M. M. and Young, David L.},
abstractNote = {Here, the interplay between hydrogenation and passivation of poly-Si/SiOx contacts to n-type Si wafers is studied using atomic layer deposited Al2O3 and anneals in forming gas and nitrogen. The poly-Si/SiOx stacks are prepared by thermal oxidation followed by thermal crystallization of a-Si:H films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Implied open-circuit voltages as high as 710 mV are achieved for p-type poly-Si/SiOx contacts to n-type Si after hydrogenation. Correlating minority carrier lifetime data and secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles reveals that the main benefit of Al2O3 is derived from its role as a hydrogen source for chemically passivating defects at SiOx; Al2O3 layers are found to hydrogenate poly-Si/SiOx much better than a forming gas anneal. By labelling Al2O3 and the subsequent anneal with different hydrogen isotopes, it is found that Al2O3 exchanges most of its hydrogen with the ambient upon annealing at 400 °C for 1 h even though there is no significant net change in its total hydrogen content.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5031118},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 20,
volume = 112,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {5}
}
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Schematic (a) and cross-section HAADF STEM micrographs (b),(c) of symmetric p-type poly-Si/SiOx samples with Al2O3 prepared for this study.
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