Deposition of microcrystalline silicon films and solar cells via the pulsed PECVD technique

The pulsed plasma CVD technique has been shown to increase the deposition rate without an increase in the particulate count in the plasma which is an important factor in determining the yield of commercial products such as solar cell modules. The technique is also more easily scaled to larger areas than the VHF-PECVD technique. In this paper, we report on the deposition of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) films over large area substrates (30 cm × 40 cm) as well on the optimization of μc-Si solar cell devices. The effects of nucleation and substrate pre-treatment on the p/i interface are discussed.