Abstract
Nanocrystalline Si:H (nc-Si:H) films were prepared to fabricate solar cells, of which the output properties were investigated. Nanocrystals are indicated in the films by electron microscopy. Raman experimental data of phosphorus doped nc-Si:H films were well simulated by Fano effect (FE) profiles due to Fano interference between discrete optical phonons and a continuum of electronic excitations in the nanocrystals. Raman measurement signals of the phosphorus doped and intrinsic nc-Si:H layers can be fitted well by a strain-calibrated phonon confinement effect (S-PCE) model owing to incorporated effects of phonon confinement and tensile strain. For the Raman signals from intrinsic films, the fit according to the S-PCE model is better than that based on FE. The output properties of P–I–N type nc-Si:H solar cells, depending on the material structures, including the mean size of the nanocrystals, crystalline volume fraction and disorder, were analyzed.
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