Effects of interface states, tunneling, and metal in silicon MOS solar cells

An attempt has been made to present a comprehensive theory for silicon MOS solar cells. This theory indicates that an increase in silicon band-bending, i.e. the silicon barrier, along with the expected increase in the oxide potential barrier with increasing oxide thickness reduces the majority carrier diode current by many orders of magnitude. This enhances the open-circuit voltage. The minority carrier photocurrent is not disturbed so long as the rate of minority carrier tunneling through the oxide remains larger than their rate of arrival at the interface. Detailed investigations are in progress to obtain experimental data on the dependence of interface states, tunneling transmission factor silicon band-bending, and the oxide voltage on the oxide thickness and the front contact metal. The experimental results obtained so far support the theory described here.