The influence of surface preparation on rear surface passivation of mc-Si by thermally treated direct PECVD silicon nitride

Author

Dekkers, H.F.W. ; Duerinckx, F. ; De Wolf, S. ; Agostinelli, G. ; Szlufcik, J.

Author_Institution

IMEC, Leuven, Belgium

Volume

2

fYear

2003

fDate

18-18 May 2003

Firstpage

1143

Abstract

Bulk and surface passivating properties of low frequency direct PECVD SiN/sub x/:H were investigated on 0.5-1 /spl Omega/cm p-type mc-Si material. It is observed that bulk passivation is preserved for different SiN/sub x/:H layers, deposited in a wide range of gas flow ratio and power. This allows optimisation of the layer composition towards rear surface passivation of mc-Si, while maintaining the bulk passivation. Lifetime measurements showed that a thermal treatment of SiN/sub x/:H leads to a lower minority carrier trapping density in the mc-Si bulk. Also a strong effect of the surface condition on the surface passivation was found. Different surface conditions have a strong impact on blister formation, which are possibly related to the diffusion mechanism of hydrogen from SiN/sub x/:H into the mc-Si bulk.

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; carrier density; carrier lifetime; electron traps; elemental semiconductors; heat treatment; passivation; plasma CVD coatings; silicon; solar cells; PECVD silicon nitride; Si; SiN; blister formation; bulk passivation; diffusion mechanism; gas flow ratio; hydrogen; layer composition; lifetime measurements; microcrystalline silicon; minority carrier trapping density; surface passivation; surface preparation; thermal treatment;

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

1306117