Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation

Nemeth, William M.; Harvey, Steven P.; Li, Jian V.; Young, David L.; Upadhyaya, Ajay; LaSalvia, Vincenzo A.; Lee, Benjamin G.; Page, Matthew; Stradins, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.302

Title: Effect of the SiO₂ interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation

Abstract

We investigate how SiO_x oxide interlayers prepared by different techniques (chemical, thermal) in combination with hydrogen released from an ALD Al₂O₃ source layer govern passivation in 1) passivated contacts based on doped poly-Si layers and tunneling SiO₂, and 2) wafer surface passivation by Al₂O₃. Profiles of O and H in these structures with engineered, buried SiOx interlayers were measured by Time-of-Flight SIMS (TOF-SIMS) at nanometer resolution. Passivated contacts perform best with thermally oxidized SiOx, while chemical SiO_x causes poly-Si film blistering and performance degradation. ALD Al₂O₃ acts as passivating H source, significantly improving B-doped and intrinsic poly-Si contacts for IBC cells. Fast-diffusing hydrogen from the Al₂O₃ source layer appears to penetrate Si wafer thickness, improving the passivation of structures at the opposite side. In contrast to the passivated contacts, chemical SiOx interlayer promotes wafer surface passivation by ALD Al₂O₃, while similarly thin thermal SiO₂ suppresses passivation and built-in charge.

Authors:

Nemeth, William M. ^[1];

^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[2]; Young, David L. ^[1]; Upadhyaya, Ajay ^[3]; LaSalvia, Vincenzo A. ^[1]; Lee, Benjamin G. ^[1]; Page, Matthew ^[1]; Stradins, Paul ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Texas State Univ., San marcos, TX (United States)
Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

Publication Date:: Thu Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2017

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:: 1468739

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-68706
Journal ID: ISSN 1876-6102

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Energy Procedia (Online)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Energy Procedia (Online); Journal Volume: 124; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 1876-6102

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 25 ENERGY STORAGE; silicon; passivation; passivated contact; polysilicon; Al2O3

Citation Formats


                    Nemeth, William M., Harvey, Steven P., Li, Jian V., Young, David L., Upadhyaya, Ajay, LaSalvia, Vincenzo A., Lee, Benjamin G., Page, Matthew, and Stradins, Paul. Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.302.

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                    Nemeth, William M., Harvey, Steven P., Li, Jian V., Young, David L., Upadhyaya, Ajay, LaSalvia, Vincenzo A., Lee, Benjamin G., Page, Matthew, & Stradins, Paul. Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.302

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                    Nemeth, William M., Harvey, Steven P., Li, Jian V., Young, David L., Upadhyaya, Ajay, LaSalvia, Vincenzo A., Lee, Benjamin G., Page, Matthew, and Stradins, Paul. Thu .  
"Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.302.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1468739.

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@article{osti_1468739,

  title        = {Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation},

  author       = {Nemeth, William M. and Harvey, Steven P. and Li, Jian V. and Young, David L. and Upadhyaya, Ajay and LaSalvia, Vincenzo A. and Lee, Benjamin G. and Page, Matthew and Stradins, Paul},

  abstractNote = {We investigate how SiOx oxide interlayers prepared by different techniques (chemical, thermal) in combination with hydrogen released from an ALD Al2O3 source layer govern passivation in 1) passivated contacts based on doped poly-Si layers and tunneling SiO2, and 2) wafer surface passivation by Al2O3. Profiles of O and H in these structures with engineered, buried SiOx interlayers were measured by Time-of-Flight SIMS (TOF-SIMS) at nanometer resolution. Passivated contacts perform best with thermally oxidized SiOx, while chemical SiOx causes poly-Si film blistering and performance degradation. ALD Al2O3 acts as passivating H source, significantly improving B-doped and intrinsic poly-Si contacts for IBC cells. Fast-diffusing hydrogen from the Al2O3 source layer appears to penetrate Si wafer thickness, improving the passivation of structures at the opposite side. In contrast to the passivated contacts, chemical SiOx interlayer promotes wafer surface passivation by ALD Al2O3, while similarly thin thermal SiO2 suppresses passivation and built-in charge.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.302},

  journal      = {Energy Procedia (Online)},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 124,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Thu Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Thu Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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Works referenced in this record:

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Solar RRL, Vol. 3, Issue 10
DOI: 10.1002/solr.201900105

Intrinsic charge trapping in amorphous oxide films: status and challenges
journal, May 2018

Strand, Jack; Kaviani, Moloud; Gao, David
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol. 30, Issue 23
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/aac005

Improvement of the conductivity and surface passivation properties of boron-doped poly-silicon on oxide
conference, January 2018

Morisset, Audrey; Cabal, Raphaël; Grange, Bernadette
SILICONPV 2018, THE 8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CRYSTALLINE SILICON PHOTOVOLTAICS, AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI: 10.1063/1.5049280

The origin of negative charging in amorphous Al ₂ O ₃ films: the role of native defects
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Dicks, Oliver A.; Cottom, Jonathon; Shluger, Alexander L.
Nanotechnology, Vol. 30, Issue 20
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physica status solidi (RRL) – Rapid Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 7
DOI: 10.1002/pssr.201900064

Hydrogenated derivatives of hexacoordinated metallic Cu ₂ Si monolayer
journal, January 2018

Unsal, E.; Iyikanat, F.; Sahin, H.
RSC Advances, Vol. 8, Issue 70
DOI: 10.1039/c8ra07824f

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Title: Effect of the SiO2 interlayer properties with solid-source hydrogenation on passivated contact performance and surface passivation

Abstract

Citation Formats

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