High performance a-Si solar cells and new fabrication methods for a-Si solar cells

The super chamber, a separated UHV reaction-chamber system has been developed. A conversion efficiency of 11.7% was obtained for an a-Si solar cell using a high-quality i-layer deposited by the super chamber, and a p-layer fabricated by a photo-CVD method.As a new material, amorphous superlattice-structure films were fabricated by the photo-CVD method for the first time. Superlattice structure p-layer a-Si solar cells were fabricated, and a conversion efficiency of 10.5% was obtained.For the fabrication of integrated type a-Si solar cell modules, a laser pattering method was investigated. A thermal analysis of the multilayer structure was done. It was confirmed that selective scribing for a-Si, TCO and metal film is possible by controlling the laser power density. Recently developed a-Si solar power generation systems and a-Si solar cell roofing tiles are also described.     

Spectrum of photoinduced optical absorption in a-Si: H

Photoinduced absorption below the band gap in a-Si: H is interpreted in terms of transitions between holes trapped in states near the trap quasi-Fermi level and the valence band.     

Comment on the optical absorption edge in a-Si:H

The optical absorption edge of undoped amorphous silicon hydride has been measured using optical transmission, photoconductivity, and photothermal deflection spectroscopy. The results obtained by these techniques agree in the exponential edge region. An apparent inconsistency pointed out by Redfield between the optical absorption edge and the valence band tail density of states as measured by drift mobility is attributed to the non-exponential behavior of the absorption edge above α～10³ cm^-1.     

Properties of a-Si:N:H films beneficial for silicon solar cells applications

Amorphous silicon-nitride thin films a-Si:N:H were obtained by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) method from SiH₄+NH₃ at 13.56 MHz. The process parameters were chosen to obtain the films of properties suitable for optoelectronic and mechanical applications. FTIR analysis of a-Si:N:H films indicated the presence of numerous hydrogen bonds (Si-H and N-H) which passivate structural defects in multicrystalline silicon and react with impurities. The morpho-logical investigations show that the films are homogeneous. The deposition of a-Si:N:H layers leads to the decrease in friction coefficient of used substrates. Optical properties were optimised to obtain the films of low effective reflectivity, large energy gap E_g from 2.4 to 2.9 eV and refractive index in the range of 1.9 to 2.2. Reduction of friction coefficient for monocrystalline silicon after covering with a-Si:N:H films was observed: from 0.25 to 0.18 for 500 cycles.     

Measurement of optical absorption in dielectric reflectors

The absorption of optical coatings can be measured by the method described with an accuracy of 0.001%. The radiation absorbed by the optical coating causes a change in the temperature of the coating and the substrate. The temperature change is measured by means of a thin-film resistance thermometer deposited on the substrate. The method was tested for laser reflectors at 1060 nm with a laser as a light source.     

Energy-band tails and the optical absorption edge; the case of a-Si:H

For a disordered semiconductor having exponential energy-band tails and energy-independent matrix elements the optical absorption edge is calculated, including transitions to both bands. It is shown why the $\text{width}$ of the absorption edge is controlled by only the broader of the two tails, whereas the $\text{strength}$ is affected by both tails. For a-Si:H, comparison of the predicted width of the absorption edge to recently measured values results in a large discrepancy, which cannot be explained by the matrix element approximation.     

Simulation of daytime variations in the characteristics of a-Si:H solar cells

The time dependences of the key characteristic of a-Si:H solar cells over daylight hours are theoretically simulated. The model is used to calculate the time dependences for an arbitrary geographic latitude in the interval 30°–60° and arbitrary day of the year. The calculated results are illustrated for a geographic latitude of 45° and equinox. The relative variations in the characteristics of the a-Si:H solar cells are valid with a relatively high accuracy for the solar cells based on alternative semiconductors provided that their efficiency ranges form 7 to 20%.     

非晶/微晶两相硅薄膜电池的计算机模拟

在对不同晶相比硅薄膜的实验研究的基础上，利用有效介质理论估算了这种两相材料的光吸 收系数、迁移率寿命乘积及带隙宽度等参量，计算机模拟了不同结晶比硅薄膜电池的伏安特 性及光谱响应；结果为随着本征层微晶成分的增多，电池的开路电压逐渐减小，短路电流逐 渐增大，本征层的最佳厚度逐渐增大，填充因子有降低的趋势，电池的效率随晶相比的增大 而减小. 电池的光谱响应曲线表明，随晶相比的增大电池的长波响应明显提高. 根据这些模 拟结果，分析讨论了在考虑Lambertian背反射的情况下，非晶/微晶叠层电池的底电池采用 晶相比为40％—50％的两相硅薄膜材料做本征层是最佳选择. 关键词： 两相硅薄膜 太阳能电池 计算机模拟     

Three dimensional a-Si:H thin-film solar cells with silver nano-rod back electrodes

We present three dimensional (3-D) amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells with silver nano-rods as back electrodes, which are fabricated by low cost nano imprint lithography (NIL). After conformal deposition of thin metal and semiconductor layers, we can achieve a dome-shaped geometry, which is shown to be effective in reducing the reflectance at the front surface due to the graded refractive index effect. In addition, the enhancement of the diffused reflectance over a broad wavelength in this dome-shaped geometry provides light trapping due to the increase in the effective light propagation length. Using this 3-D solar cell, we achieved 54% increase in short circuit current density and 45% increase in the conversion efficiency compared to the control cells with flat Ag surfaces. This 3-D structure can be also used for improving light harvesting in various photovoltaic devices regardless of materials and structures.     

Nonlinear absorption of a picosecond pulse in a-Si: H

The results of a nonlinear-absorption research in a film of a-Si: H are reported. The absorption is induced by a picosecond laser pulse with quantum energy only slightly exceeding the band gap width of the material. Picosecond pulses obtained by optical methane and hydrogen pumping and stimulated Raman scattering were used in experiments for resonance excitation of the sample. The total absorption is shown to be the sum of the free carrier absorption and absorption by holes trapped on local levels in the “tail” of the conduction band.     

Plasmon enhanced light absorption in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

Silver nanospheres (Ag NSs) buffer layers were introduced via a solution casting process to enhance the light absorption in poly (3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. These Ag NSs, as surface plasmons, could increase the optical electric field in the photoactive layer whilst simultaneously improving the light scattering. As a result, this buffer layer improves the light absorption of P3HT:PCBM blend and consequently improves the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of organic solar cells. In this work, different sizes of Ag NSs plasmon‐enhanced layer were investigated, with the aim of optimizing the performance of devices. UV‐vis spectrometer measurement demonstrates that the total optical absorption of P3HT:PCBM blend films in the spectral range of 350–650 nm is increased by ～4 and 6% with incorporation of the 20 and 40 nm Ag NSs, respectively. The J_sc was shown to increase by ～21 and 24% for 20 and 40 nm Ag NSs, respectively. This is due to the extra photogenerated excitons by the plasmonic resonance of Ag NSs. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Superstrate p-i-n a-Si:H solar cells on textured ZnO:Al front transparent conduction oxide

Superstrate p-i-n amorphous silicon thin-film (a-Si:H) solar cells are prepared on SnO₂:F and ZnO:Al transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) in order to see the effect of TCO/p-layers on a-Si:H solar cell operation. The solar cells prepared on textured ZnO:Al have higher open circuit voltage V_oc than cells prepared on SnO₂:F. The presence of a thin microcrystalline p-type silicon layer (μc-Si:H) between ZnO:Al and p a-SiC:H plays a major role by causing an improvement in the fill factor as well as in V_oc of a-Si:H solar cells prepared on ZnO:Al TCO. Without any treatment of the p-i interface, we could obtain a high V_oc of 994 mV while keeping the fill factor (72.7%) and short circuit current density J_sc at the same level as for the cells on SnO₂:F TCO. This high V_oc value can be attributed to modification in the current transport in this region due to creation of a potential barrier.     

Modulation of light absorption by optical spacer in perovskite solar cells

Lead halide perovskite solar cells with planar heterojunction configuration have recently attracted tremendous attention because of their excellent power conversion efficiencies. The modulation of optical absorption by using an optical spacer layer is a unique method to enhance the device efficiency. Here, we demonstrate the application of thin ZnO layer that act as an optical spacer that enhance the power conversion efficiency perovskite devices from 8.92% to 10.7%, which is mainly due to increment in short‐circuit current density by 16% compared to the reference solar cell. The simulation data revealed that ZnO acts as an optical spacer layer that shifts length (average) of electric field |E|² distribution from 500 nm to 750 nm wavelength is 25 nm in the perovskite layer. Which represents that exciton generation region is moved to near the hole transport layer that enhances the exciton dissociation efficiency and device efficiency.     

Disorder and optical characterization of evaporation deposited a-Si: H films

Summary We have found, from optical transmission and photoconductivity measurements, that the width of the Urbach's tail and the optical-band gap value depend on the amount of disorder present in the network ofa-Si: H films. The nature of the disorder, being it thermal or structural, affects in the same way the behaviour of the absorption coefficient and supports the hypothesis that the value of the optical-band gap depends only indirectly on the overall hydrogen content. Work partially supported by CNR ?Progetto Finalizzato Energetica? and by the Energy Committee of Sicilian Region.     

Selective ablation with UV lasers of a-Si:H thin film solar cells in direct scribing configuration

Monolithical series connection of silicon thin-film solar cells modules performed by laser scribing plays a very important role in the entire production of these devices. In the current laser process interconnection the two last steps are developed for a configuration of modules where the glass is essential as transparent substrate. In addition, the change of wavelength in the employed laser sources is sometimes enforced due to the nature of the different materials of the multilayer structure which make up the device. The aim of this work is to characterize the laser patterning involved in the monolithic interconnection process in a different configurations of processing than the usually performed with visible laser sources. To carry out this study, we use nanosecond and picosecond laser sources working at 355 nm of wavelength in order to achieve the selective ablation of the material from the film side. To assess this selective removal of material has been used EDX (energy dispersive using X-ray) analysis, electrical measurements and confocal profiles. In order to evaluate the damage in the silicon layer, Raman spectroscopy has been used for the last laser process step. Raman spectra gives information about the heat affected zone in the amorphous silicon structure through the crystalline fraction calculation. The use of ultrafast sources, such as picoseconds lasers, coupled with UV wavelength gives the possibility to consider materials and substrates different than currently used, making the process more efficient and easy to implement in production lines. This approach with UV laser sources working from the film side offers no restriction in the choice of materials which make up the devices and the possibility to opt for opaque substrates.     

Photoinduced absorption spectrum of a-Si:H between 0.65 and 1.6 eV

Photoinduced absorption in a-Si:H is measured between 0.65 eV and 1.6 eV using a guided wave technique. Spectra are interpreted in terms of holes transitions from trap states in the valence band tail to the valence band.     

钙钛矿/硅叠层太阳电池中平面a-Si:H/c-Si异质结底电池的钝化优化及性能提高

最近,旋涂法制备的钙钛矿/平面硅异质结高效叠层太阳电池引起人们广泛关注,主要原因是相比于绒面硅衬底制备的钙钛矿/硅叠层太阳电池,其制备工艺简单、制备成本低且效率高.对于平面a-Si:H/c-Si异质结电池, a-Si:H/c-Si界面的良好钝化是获得高转换效率的关键,进而决定了钙钛矿/硅异质结叠层太阳电池的性能.本文主要从硅片表面处理、a-Si:H钝化层和P型发射极等方面展开研究,通过对硅片表面的氢氟酸(HF)浸泡时间和氢等离子体预处理气体流量、a-Si:H钝化层沉积参数、钝化层与P型发射极(I/P)界面富氢等离子体处理的综合调控,获得了相应的优化工艺参数.对比研究了p-a-Si:H和p-nc-Si:H两种缓冲层材料对I/P界面的影响,其中高电导、宽带隙的p-nc-Si:H缓冲层既能够降低I/P界面的缺陷态,又可以增强P型发射层的暗电导率,提高了前表面场效应钝化效果.通过上述优化,制备出最佳的P-type emitter layer/aSi:H(i)/c-Si/a-Si:H(i)/N-type layer (inip)结构样品的少子寿命与implied-Voc分别达到2855μs和709 mV,表现出良好的钝化效果.应用于平面a-Si:H/c-Si异质结太阳电池,转换效率达到18.76%,其中开路电压达到681.5 mV,相对于未优化的电池提升了34.3 mV.将上述平面a-Si:H/c-Si异质结太阳电池作为底电池,对应的钙钛矿/硅异质结叠层太阳电池的开路电压达到1780 mV,转换效率达到21.24%,证明了上述工艺优化能够有效地改善叠层太阳电池中的硅异质结底电池的钝化及电池性能.