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Boron doped nanocrystalline silicon film characterization for solar cell application

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Abstract

Lightly doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films were deposited through the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using a gas mixture of SiH4, B2H6, and H2 as the precursor. By using thermal annealing at 800 and 1000°C, boron doped nanocrystalline silicon films were obtained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements demonstrated the presence of substitutional boron in the doped films. Based on the measurement of dark conductivity as a function of temperature, p-type nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) films with high room temperature conductivity and low active energy were observed. By using these p-type silicon films, P-N junction solar cells were prepared on the n-type nc-Si substrate. The device characteristics were investigated based on the measurements of the current-voltage and spectral-response.

中文摘要

本文采用等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术(PECVD)制备了轻度掺杂的氢化非晶硅薄膜, 沉积过程中以SiH4, B2H6 和 H2 的 混和气作为反应源. 原始淀积材料经过800和1000°C的高温热退火处理后, 形成了硼掺杂的纳米硅薄膜. X射线光电子能谱(XPS)显示硼 原子在薄膜中形成了替位式掺杂. 根据不同温度下暗电导率的测量结果, 轻度硼掺杂的纳米硅薄膜具有较高的室温暗电导率和较低的 激活能. 进而, 采用该种P型硅薄膜材料以N型单晶硅为基底, 制作了P-N结太阳能电池器件. 根据电流-电压特性以及光谱相应曲线的测 量分析, 对电池的性能特性进行了研究.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Hanshan Normal University, Chaozhou, 521041, China

    Chao Song, Xiang Wang, Jie Song, Zhenxu Lin, Yi Zhang, Yanqing Guo & Rui Huang

  2. School of Electronic Science and Engineering and National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Chao Song

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  1. Chao Song
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  2. Xiang Wang
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  3. Jie Song
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  4. Zhenxu Lin
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  5. Yi Zhang
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  6. Yanqing Guo
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  7. Rui Huang
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Correspondence to Chao Song.

Additional information

Chao Song received his PhD degree in microelectronics and solid state electronics from the Department of Physics of Nanjing University in 2010. His research interests are focused on the fabrication of silicon-based nanomaterials, and the development and understanding of doped materials for energy and light emission related applications, such as solar cells and LEDs.

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Song, C., Wang, X., Song, J. et al. Boron doped nanocrystalline silicon film characterization for solar cell application. Sci. China Mater. 58, 704–708 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-015-0086-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-015-0086-6

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