Title :
Intrinsic microcrystalline silicon deposited by remote PECVD: a new thin-film photovoltaic material
Author :
Wang, C. ; Lucovsky, G.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Mater. Sci. & Eng., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA
Abstract :
Remote plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (remote PECVD) was used to deposit photovoltaic (PV)-grade intrinsic and n- and p-type a-Si:H, heavily doped n- and p-type μc-Si thin films, and a photovoltaic material, a highly photoconductive intrinsic μc-Si material. This material is deposited by compensating the native defects in the as-deposited, undoped materials with a relatively small amount of boron. The dark conductivity of this compensated intrinsic material is reduced significantly with respect to the undoped μc-Si, and the films display a level of photoconductivity comparable to that of PV-grade intrinsic a-Si:H. In addition, the material shows no degradation in photoconductivity after long-term exposure to intense illumination (~50 mW/cm2 for 6 h)
Keywords :
CVD coatings; elemental semiconductors; heavily doped semiconductors; photoconductivity; photovoltaic effects; semiconductor growth; semiconductor thin films; silicon; Si; Si:B; Si:H; compensated intrinsic material; dark conductivity; defects; degradation; heavily doped semiconductor; microcrystalline; n-type; p-type; photoconductivity; photovoltaic material; remote PECVD; thin-film; Chemicals; Conducting materials; Photoconducting materials; Photoconductivity; Photovoltaic systems; Plasma chemistry; Plasma materials processing; Silicon; Solar power generation; Sputtering;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE
Conference_Location :
Kissimmee, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1990.111882
