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Investigation of surface passivation schemes for p-type monocrystalline silicon solar cell

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Abstract

This paper represents an experiment to analyze the dark saturation current densities of passivated surfaces for monocrystalline silicon solar cells. The samples are diffused at peak temperatures of 800–950 °C. Basically, symmetrical lifetime samples with different doping profiles are prepared with alkaline textured and saw damage etched (planar) surfaces. After POCl3 diffusion, the phosphorous silicate glass layers are removed in a wet chemical etching step. Several designs are chosen for the determination of the sheet resistance (R sh), the concentration profile for excess charge carrier and the minority carrier effective lifetime of the diffused surfaces. The dark saturation current densities (J o ) and the doping profiles are determined accordingly via quasi-steady state photoconductance decay measurement and electrochemical capacitance–voltage measurement. Three different passivation schemes are investigated as follows: silicon nitride (SiN x ) deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique, silicon-rich oxynitride (SiriO x N y ) capped with a PECVD SiN x layer, and thin thermally grown oxide, capped with a PECVD SiN x layer.

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Acknowledgments

Research was conducted at the Institute of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Freiburg, Germany. Authors would like to thank Dr. Achim Kimmerle and Dr. Sebastian Mack for helpful discussions and measurement support while performing experimental work. Also authors would like to thank all co-authors and co-workers within the dispensing project as well as our industry partners. Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Ulrich Herr and Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Fecht for enlightening me the first glance of research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Micro and Nano Materials, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 18, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Md. Momtazur Rahman

  2. Institute of Electronic Devices and Circuits, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 18, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Ariful Banna Udoy

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  1. Md. Momtazur Rahman
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  2. Ariful Banna Udoy
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Correspondence to Md. Momtazur Rahman.

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Rahman, M.M., Udoy, A.B. Investigation of surface passivation schemes for p-type monocrystalline silicon solar cell. Appl. Phys. A 122, 926 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-0434-8

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