Properties of a-Si:H and a-(Si,Ge):H solar cells prepared using ECR deposition techniques

In this paper, the authors describe the device preparation, properties and stability of a-Si:H and a-(Si,Ge):H solar cells prepared using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma deposition techniques. They show that by controlling the plasma chemistry, they can produce very good devices in the substrate geometry in a single chamber reactor. Both single junction and tandem junction a-Si:H solar cells have been prepared with high fill factors and good voltages. The stability of these devices is excellent. They have also prepared graded gap a-(Si,Ge):H cells, and they also show very good stability upon light soaking. They find that the properties of a-(Si,Ge):H cells depend critically upon the plasma conditions, and that controlled ion bombardment may be beneficial for improving the performance of these cells