Title :
High performance etchant for thinning p+-InP and its application to p+n InP solar cell fabrication
Author :
Faur, M. ; Faur, M. ; Bailey, Susan ; Brinkler, D. ; Goradia, M. ; Weinberg, I. ; Fatemi, Navid
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Cleveland State Univ., OH, USA
Abstract :
An etchant, namely (o-H3PO4)u: (HNO3)v: (H2O2)t: (H2O)1-(u+v+t) has been developed for thinning, after contacting, the p+ emitter layer of p+n InP structures made by thermal diffusion. Varying u, v, and t, reproducible etch rates of 5 to 110 nm/min have been obtained. After thinning the 0.6 to 2.5 μm thick p+ InP layer down to 60-250 nm, specular surfaces have been obtained at up to 80 nm/min etch rate. Due to its intrinsic qualities the residual P-rich oxide after thinning the emitter layer provides surface passivation of p + InP surfaces and can also serve as a first-layer AR coating
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; etching; indium compounds; solar cells; H2O2; H3PO4; HNO3; InP solar cell; etchant; p+n solar cell fabrication; semiconductor; specular surfaces; thermal diffusion; Chemicals; Coatings; Etching; Fabrication; Hafnium; Indium phosphide; Oxidation; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Space technology;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV
Print_ISBN :
0-87942-636-5
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1991.169216
