The influence of the amorphous silicon deposition temperature on the efficiency of the ITO/A-Si:H/C-Si heterojunction (HJ) solar cells and properties of interfaces

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 403; pp. 359 - 362
• Main Authors: Ulyashin, A.G, Job, R, Scherff, M, Gao, Meizhen, Fahrner, W.R, Lyebyedyev, D, Roos, N, Scheer, H.-C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-02-2002
• Subjects: Heterojunction (HJ) solar cells; Interfaces; Raman; SIMS; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); Interfaces; Raman; SIMS; Heterojunction (HJ) solar cells; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/S0040-6090(01)01569-3

Some crucial limiting process steps of ITO/(n)a-Si:H/(p)c-Si solar cell manufacturing were investigated. The influence of amorphous silicon deposition temperature on the efficiency of heterojunction (HJ) solar cells as well as ITO deposition on the properties of ITO/a-Si:H/c-Si interfaces were studied. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and SIMS measurements were employed for the investigations. It was observed that the decrease in a-Si:H deposition temperature from 230 down to 100°C leads to a reduction in solar cell efficiencies to only 1%. It was found that the ITO deposition process itself can significantly modify the ITO/a-Si:H/c-Si interfaces due to the interaction of oxygen, and In and Sn atoms with silicon at the initial stage. It was concluded that this modification has a more significant impact on the quality of the HJ solar cells than on that of the a-Si:H layer.