Thick poly-Si films fabricated by the aluminium-induced crystallization bi-layer process on glass substrates

Author

Widenborg, Per I. ; Aberle, Armin G.

Author_Institution

Centre for Photovoltaic Eng., New South Wales Univ., Sydney, NSW, Australia

fYear

2002

fDate

19-24 May 2002

Firstpage

1206

Lastpage

1209

Abstract

An experimental study aiming at the realisation of thick (∼0.5 μm) poly-Si films by means of the aluminium-induced crystallisation (AlC) process has been performed. A gradient in the Al evaporation rate and a high annealing temperature have been found to be important for thick poly-Si films fabricated by the AlC exchange layer process. Furthermore, to obtain a thick poly-Si film free of pinholes, a low plasma power or a high Ar gas pressure must be used in the sputtering of the a-Si layer in the AlC process. We have realised continuous poly-Si films with a thickness of up to 1 μm. Thicker films (up to 2 μm) have also been produced, although they exhibit some pinholes or voids. A dependence of (thin and thick) poly-Si film properties on the a-Si deposition parameters used in the AlC process has been identified, although further investigation is required.

Keywords

aluminium; annealing; crystallisation; elemental semiconductors; semiconductor thin films; silicon; sputtered coatings; 0.5 micron; 1 micron; 2 micron; Al; AlC exchange layer process; Ar; Si; SiO₂; aluminium-induced crystallization bi-layer process; annealing; film thickness; glass substrates; sputtering; thick poly-Si films; Annealing; Argon; Artificial intelligence; Crystallization; Glass; Photovoltaic cells; Plasma temperature; Semiconductor films; Sputtering; Substrates;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2002. Conference Record of the Twenty-Ninth IEEE

ISSN

1060-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7471-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2002.1190824

Filename

1190824