Abstract
The electroreflectance (ER) signal has been studied for the purpose of identifying the built-in field in practical amorphous silicon (a-Si∶H) solar cells. Through both theoretical and experimental considerations, it has been confirmed that the ER signal essentially comes from the light which is reflected at the back surface and hence experiences the internal electric field within thea-Si∶H layer. By analyzing the ER signal, which is really the back-surface reflected electroabsorption signal, the built-in potentialV bcan be evaluated. This method has been applied to various types ofp-i-n junctiona-Si solar cells.V bof a usual homojunction solar cell was about 0.85 V. Increases ofV bby 50≈130mV have been found in heterojunction solar cells constructed withp-type amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC∶H) and/orn-type microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) as compared with homojunctionp-i-n solar cells. Moreover, a clear dependence ofV bon the substrate materials has been observed. These experimental results are described in connection with cell performances.
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Nonomura, S., Okamoto, H. & Hamakawa, Y. A study of built-in potential ina-Si solar cells by means of back-surface reflected electroabsorption. Appl. Phys. A 32, 31–38 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00626131
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00626131