Title :
Thin film silicon materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD technique
Author :
Das, U. ; Morrison, S. ; Centurioni, E. ; Madan, A.
Abstract :
Pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) involves modulation of standard 13.56 MHz RF plasma in the kilohertz range. This allows an increase in the electron density during the ´ON´ cycle, while in the ´OFF´ cycle, neutralising the ions responsible for dust formation in the plasma. The authors report the development of state-of-the-art nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si:H) materials using a pulsed PECVD technique with 220 crystallite orientation, grain size of ∼200 Å, low O concentration and a minority carrier diffusion length Ld of ∼1.2 μm. The crucial effects of the p/i interface and the incubation layer have been investigated and an efficiency of ∼7.5% for a single junction nc-Si:H p-i-n device has been achieved for an i-layer thickness of 1.4 μm, using non-optimised textured substrates
Keywords :
electron density <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; elemental semiconductors <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; grain size <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; hydrogen <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; minority carriers <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; nanostructured materials <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; plasma CVD <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; plasma CVD coatings <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; semiconductor growth <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; semiconductor thin films <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; silicon <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; solar cells <thin film Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; thin film devices <Si materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD tech.>; 1.2 micron; 1.4 micron; 13.56 MHz; 200 Å; 220 crystallite orientation; 7.5 percent; Si:H; Si:H p-i-n device; chemical vapour deposition; electron density; grain size; incubation layer; kilohertz range modulation; low O concentration; minority carrier diffusion length; nanocrystalline Si materials; nonoptimised textured substrates; p/i interface; plasma enhanced CVD; pulsed PECVD technique; single junction p-i-n device; thin film Si materials; thin film solar cells;
Journal_Title :
Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE Proceedings -
DOI :
10.1049/ip-cds:20030627
