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Preparation and properties of Si/Ni intermediate band photovoltaic materials

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Abstract

The intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) is one of the third-generation photovoltaic devices, whose theoretical conversion efficiencies can exceed the limit of Shockley and Queisser. The preparation of intermediate band (IB) materials is a key for IBSC applications. In this work, we explore to prepare IB materials by nickel (Ni) implantation in silicon (Si) followed by a rapid thermal process (RTP). The results show that the Ni concentrations in the effective doping zone exceed the Mott limit. The minority carrier lifetimes of the samples increase with the increase in Ni doping concentration. It proved that the non-radiative recombination is suppressed so that an IB is formed in Si. Moreover, the ion implantation of Ni can damage the Si lattice. The broken lattices can be recovered by controlling temperature and time of annealing. SEM shows the surface morphology of the materials, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the Si/Ni samples are single-phase structure. Furthermore, it is found that the IB for the Si/Ni samples is located at about 0.25 eV above the valence band edge. These results indicate that Ni-doped in Si can effectively form the intermediate band photovoltaic materials by ion implantation and RTP method.

Graphical Abstract

Arrhenius analysis of DLTS shows that Ni doping in silicon can effectively form an intermediate band by ion implantation and RTP method, and the intermediate band is located at about 0.25 eV above the valence band edge.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11964018). The authors sincerely thank the group of photovoltaic research institute of Nanchang University for their equipment testing and help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Peng Wang, Jiren Yuan, Jianmin Xiao & Xinhua Deng

  2. Institute of Photovoltaics, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Jiren Yuan, Zibo Meng, Haibin Huang & Lang Zhou

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  1. Peng Wang
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Correspondence to Jiren Yuan.

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Wang, P., Yuan, J., Xiao, J. et al. Preparation and properties of Si/Ni intermediate band photovoltaic materials. Appl. Phys. A 127, 859 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04997-6

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