Passivation of aluminium–n+ silicon contacts for solar cells by ultrathin Al2O3 and SiO2 dielectric layers

Ultra‐thin thermally grown SiO₂ and atomic‐layer‐deposited (ALD) Al₂O₃ films are trialled as passivating dielectrics for metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) type contacts on top of phosphorus diffused regions applicable to high efficiency silicon solar cells. An investigation of the optimum insulator thickness in terms of contact recombination factor J_{0_cont} and contact resistivity ρ_c is undertaken on 85 Ω/□ and 103 Ω/□ diffusions. An optimum ALD Al₂O₃ thickness of ～22 Å produces a J_{0_cont} of ～300 fAcm^–2 whilst maintaining a ρ_c lower than 1 mΩ cm² for the 103 Ω/□ diffusion. This has the potential to improve the open‐circuit voltage by a maximum 15 mV. The thermally grown SiO₂ fails to achieve equivalently low J_{0_cont} values but exhibits greater thermal stability, resulting in slight improvements in ρ_c when annealed for 10 minutes at 300 °C without significant changes in J_{0_cont}. The after‐anneal J_{0_cont} reaches ～600 fAcm^–2 with a ρ_c of ～2.5 mΩ cm² for the 85 Ω/□ diffusion amounting to a maximum gain in open‐circuit voltage of 6 mV. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Studies on the polycrystalline silicon/SiO_2 stack as front surface field for IBC solar cells by two-dimensional simulations

Interdigitated back contact(IBC) solar cells can achieve a very high efficiency due to its less optical losses. But IBC solar cells demand for high quality passivation of the front surface. In this paper, a polycrystalline silicon/SiO_2 stack structure as front surface field to passivate the front surface of IBC solar cells is proposed. The passivation quality of this structure is investigated by two dimensional simulations. Polycrystalline silicon layer and SiO_2 layer are optimized to get the best passivation quality of the IBC solar cell. Simulation results indicate that the doping level of polycrystalline silicon should be high enough to allow a very thin polycrystalline silicon layer to ensure an effective passivation and small optical losses at the same time. The thickness of SiO_2 should be neither too thin nor too thick, and the optimal thickness is 1.2 nm.Furthermore, the lateral transport properties of electrons are investigated, and the simulation results indicate that a high doping level and conductivity of polycrystalline silicon can improve the lateral transportation of electrons and then the cell performance.     

基于BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜表面钝化的黑硅太阳电池性能研究

采用金属银辅助化学刻蚀法在制绒的硅片表面刻蚀纳米孔形成微纳米双层结构,以期获得高吸收率的太阳能电池用黑硅材料.鉴于微纳米结构会在晶硅表面引入大量的载流子复合中心,利用磁控溅射技术在黑硅太阳电池表面制备了BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜,并对其表面性能和优化效果进行了探索.实验制备的具有微纳米双层结构的黑硅纳米线长约180—320 nm,在300—1000 nm波长范围内入射光反射率均在5%以下.沉积BiFeO_3/ITO复合薄膜后的黑硅太阳能电池反射率略有提高,但仍然具有较强的光吸收性能;采用BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜的黑硅太阳能电池开路电压和短路电流密度分别由最初的0.61 V和28.42 mA/cm~2提升至0.68 V和34.57 mA/cm~2,相应电池的光电转化效率由13.3%上升至16.8%.电池综合性能的改善主要是因为沉积BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜提高了电池光生载流子的有效分离,从而增强了黑硅太阳电池短波区域的光谱响应,表明具有自发极化性能的BiFeO_3薄膜对黑硅太阳能电池的表面性能可起到较好的优化作用.