Title :
Characterization of microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells
Author :
Brammer, Torsten ; Stiebig, Helmut
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany
Abstract :
Absorber layers of microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition are characterized regarding the product of the recombination lifetime and the mobility (μτ). The characterization is based on a comparison of experimentally determined solar cell characteristics with results from numerical device simulations. Evaluation of the voltage dependent quantum efficiency indicates a strong dependence of μτ on the hydrogen dilution during the deposition. Close to the transition region to amorphous growth where the highest solar cell efficiencies are observed μeτ is maximum within the crystalline deposition regime and equals 2·10-7cm2N.
Keywords :
carrier mobility; electron-hole recombination; elemental semiconductors; hydrogen; plasma CVD coatings; semiconductor device models; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; μc-Si thin-film solar cells; Si:H; absorber layers; amorphous growth; carrier mobility; crystalline deposition regime; highest solar cell efficiencies; plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; recombination lifetime; transition region; voltage dependent quantum efficiency; Chemical vapor deposition; Photovoltaic cells; Plasma chemistry; Plasma devices; Plasma properties; Plasma simulation; Radiative recombination; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Sputtering;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2002. Conference Record of the Twenty-Ninth IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7471-1
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2002.1190841
