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Physics and Technology of Amorphous-Crystalline Heterostructure Silicon Solar Cells pp 161–221Cite as

Electronic Properties of Ultrathin a-Si:H Layers and the a-Si:H/c-Si Interface

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Part of the book series: Engineering Materials ((ENG.MAT.,volume 0))

Abstract

The a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction constitutes the core building block of a-Si:H/c-Si solar cells. In these cells, a key issue to obtain high efficiencies is the minimization of recombination losses at the a-Si:H/c-Si interfaces: The a-Si:H layers induce the band bending at the p/n-junction, but also passivate the surface of the c-Si, by saturation of dangling Si bonds. This is essential to realize the V oc potential > 700 mV of this cell type. High defect densities at the a-Si:H/c-Si interfaces lead to a pronounced decrease of the cell efficiency, by ~4% absolute at defect densities of 1012 cm− 2 (~ 1 dangling bond per 1000 interface atoms). Thus, it is important to obtain information on recombination-active defects in the ultra-thin a-Si:H layer and at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface. After introducing the basic electronic properties of a-Si:H, this chapter discusses the density of occupied valence band and defect states N occ(E) and the position of the Fermi level in the band gap of undoped (so called intrinsic) and of doped ultra-thin a-Si:H layers. The measured a-Si:H properties are correlated to the band bending in the c-Si absorber and to charge carrier recombination at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface. The connection to solar cell open circuit voltage V oc is made, and the current state-of-the-art of c-Si surface passivation by (i)a-Si:H is reviewed. Furthermore, the use of temperaturedependent current-voltage measurements on complete a-Si:H/c-Si solar cells to extract information on recombination and transport is discussed. Finally, the influence of band bending at the TCO/a-Si:H interface on cell performance is outlined briefly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Silicon Photovoltaics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin GmbH, Kekuléstr. 5, D-12489, Berlin, Germany

    Lars Korte

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  1. Lars Korte
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Copernicus Institute Science Technology and Society, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 6, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Wilfried G. J. H. M. van Sark

  2. Inst. Silizium-Photovoltaik, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Kekuléstraße 5, 12489, Berlin, Germany

    Lars Korte

  3. ENEA - Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile, Unità Tecnologie Portici, Localitá Granatello P. le E. Fermi, Portici, 80055, Napoli, Italy

    Francesco Roca

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Korte, L. (2012). Electronic Properties of Ultrathin a-Si:H Layers and the a-Si:H/c-Si Interface. In: van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., Korte, L., Roca, F. (eds) Physics and Technology of Amorphous-Crystalline Heterostructure Silicon Solar Cells. Engineering Materials, vol 0. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22275-7_6

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