Title :
Metal-induced growth of poly-Si on foreign substrates for solar cell applications
Author :
Guliants, Elena A. ; Anderson, Wayne A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
Abstract :
A new technological method of producing 0.5-6 μm thick device-quality poly-Si films at temperatures below 600°C has been developed. The technique relies on the epitaxial columnar growth of the Si crystals on the lattice-matching NiSi2 formed as a result of the Si deposition on a Ni prelayer, whose thickness is shown to influence the Si structure. The Si was sputtered onto the heated substrate which was previously coated with 25 nm of Ni. Such metal-induced growth (MIG) of polysilicon is proven to be applicable to a variety of inexpensive, lightweight foreign substrates, with Ni disilicide providing a good back ohmic contact to the Si film. The MIG-diode performance is promising for solar cell applications
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; epitaxial growth; ohmic contacts; semiconductor growth; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; substrates; 0.5 to 6 mum; 25 nm; MIG-diode performance; Si; back ohmic contact; device-quality semiconductor thin films; epitaxial columnar growth; foreign substrates; lattice-matching NiSi2; metal-induced growth; poly-Si film solar cells; Atomic force microscopy; Costs; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Scanning electron microscopy; Semiconductor films; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Solar power generation; Substrates;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5772-8
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2000.915777
