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High-Performance Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Solar Cells Prepared at 100 °C: Toward Flexible Building-Integrated Photovoltaics

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Abstract

For low-cost and lightweight polymer/plastic substrates in flexible building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules, low-temperature processing is essential. Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) requires processing at a temperature of 200–250 °C by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition to obtain satisfactory optoelectronic properties, which limits such substrates in terms of thermal budget. This study is focused on the fabrication of p–i–n-type a-Si:H solar cells at relatively low temperatures (100 °C). Intrinsic a-Si:H films with large optical gaps (1.83 eV) were prepared at 100 °C using a high hydrogen dilution ratio. In addition, p-type amorphous silicon oxide and n-type microcrystalline silicon oxide films with large optical gaps and suitable conductivities were prepared at 100 °C using a gas mixture containing the dopant B2H6 or PH3 and CO2. Finally, an a-Si:H p–i–n cell was fabricated at 100 °C; it exhibited an excellent power conversion efficiency of 9.0%, which was higher than those reported for a-Si:H thin film photovoltaics prepared at 100 °C. We believe that this study will open promising routes for the development of high-performance and flexible BIPVs.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIT; NRF-2018R1C1B6008028) and was also supported by the Chung-Ang University Research Scholarship Grants in 2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy Systems Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Republic of Korea

    Dong-Won Kang & Jun Ryu

  2. Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University, Tokyo, 158-0082, Japan

    Makoto Konagai

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  1. Dong-Won Kang
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  2. Jun Ryu
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  3. Makoto Konagai
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Correspondence to Dong-Won Kang.

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Kang, DW., Ryu, J. & Konagai, M. High-Performance Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Solar Cells Prepared at 100 °C: Toward Flexible Building-Integrated Photovoltaics. Electron. Mater. Lett. 15, 623–629 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-019-00161-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-019-00161-8

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