High quality /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/ thin films formed by MBE for innovative solar cells

Author

Wang, Shinan ; Otogawa, Naotaka ; Fukuzawa, Yasuhiro ; Suzuki, Yasuhito ; Ootsuka, Teruhisa ; Liu, Zhengxin ; Osamura, Masato ; Mise, Takahiro ; Nakayama, Yasuhiko ; Tanoue, Hisao ; Makita, Yunosuke

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Adv. Ind. Sci. & Technol., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

1

fYear

2003

fDate

18-18 May 2003

Firstpage

46

Abstract

In order to explore the possibility of iron-disilicide (/spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/) material for low cost and high conversion efficiency solar cells, high quality /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/ thin films have been formed by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique with silicon (Si) wafers as the substrates. The surface morphology, the crystal structure, the depth profile of element constitution and the optical and electrical properties of the films were systematically evaluated by using SEM, TEM, XRD, RBS, SIMS, optical transmission and Hall effect measurements, respectively. A high quality thin template layer was found essential for epitaxial growth of single crystal /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/ and for preventing the interdiffusion of Si and Fe at the film/substrate interface. A /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/ film was also successfully formed on CaF/sub 2/ for the first time, suggesting the multiple choices of substrates. Manufactured devices showed that /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/ is practically a promising semiconductor for making solar cells.

Keywords

Hall effect; Rutherford backscattering; X-ray diffraction; chemical interdiffusion; crystal structure; iron compounds; molecular beam epitaxial growth; scanning electron microscopy; secondary ion mass spectra; semiconductor materials; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; surface morphology; transmission electron microscopy; /spl beta/-FeSi/sub 2/; CaF/sub 2/; FeSi/sub 2/; Hall effect measurements; MBE; RBS; Rutherford backscattering; SEM; SIMS; Si; TEM; X-ray diffraction; XRD; conversion efficiency; crystal structure; depth profile; electrical properties; innovative solar cell; interdiffusion; molecular beam epitaxy technique; optical properties; optical transmission; scanning electron microscopy; secondary ion mass spectroscopy; surface morphology; thin films; transmission electron microscopy;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003. Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on

Conference_Location

Osaka, Japan

Print_ISBN

4-9901816-0-3

Type

conf

Filename

1305216