Engineering topics

Despeisse, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Despeisse, M..

3 records

DOE OSTI2015

The boron-tailing myth in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells

The boron-tailing effect in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells describes the reduced charge collection specifically in the blue part of the spectrum for absorber layers deposited above a critical temperature. This effect limits the device performance of state-of-the art solar cells: For enhanced current density (reduced bandgap), the deposition temperature should be as high as possible, but boron tailing gets detrimental above 200 °C. To investigate this limitation and to show potential paths to overcome it, we deposited high-efficiency a-Si:H solar cells, varying the deposition temperatures of the p-type and the intrinsic absorber (i) layers between 150 and 250 °C. Using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, we study dedicated stacks of i-p-i layers deposited at different temperatures. This allows us to track boron diffusion at the p-i and i-p interfaces as they occur in the p-i-n and n-i-p configurations of a-Si:H solar cells for different deposition conditions. Finally, we prove step-by-step that the common explanation for boron tailing—boron diffusion from the p layer into the i layer leading to enhanced recombination—is not generally true and propose an alternative explanation for the experimentally observed drop in the external quantum efficiency at short wavelengths.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2014

Electrodeposited copper front metallization for silicon heterojunction solar cells: materials and processes

Even though screen-printing of low-temperature silver paste remains the state-of-the-art technique for the front-metallization of SHJ solar cells, recent studies have demonstrated large efficiency improvements when copper-electroplated contacts are used instead of screen-printed ones. However, due to the new materials and the new processes introduced by this technique, it is crucial to individually investigate their compatibility with the SHJ cell structure. In this study, we present a detailed analysis of how the performances of SHJ devices may be modified by these new materials and processes. First, effects on the amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) passivation have been studied for various processes such as DI water rinsing, dips in a copper removal solution and direct evaporation of copper on the a-Si:H. Finally, copper electroplating technique has been adapted in order to be applied to more complex cell structures such as high-efficiency IBC-SHJ.

Geissbühler, J.↗

DOE OSTI2014

Light-induced V{sub oc} increase and decrease in high-efficiency amorphous silicon solar cells

High-efficiency amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells were deposited with different thicknesses of the p-type amorphous silicon carbide layer on substrates of varying roughness. We observed a light-induced open-circuit voltage (V{sub oc}) increase upon light soaking for thin p-layers, but a decrease for thick p-layers. Further, the V{sub oc} increase is enhanced with increasing substrate roughness. After correction of the p-layer thickness for the increased surface area of rough substrates, we can exclude varying the effective p-layer thickness as the cause of the substrate roughness dependence. Instead, we explain the observations by an increase of the dangling-bond density in both the p-layer—causing a V{sub oc} increase—and in the intrinsic absorber layer, causing a V{sub oc} decrease. We present a mechanism for the light-induced increase and decrease, justified by the investigation of light-induced changes of the p-layer and supported by Advanced Semiconductor Analysis simulation. We conclude that a shift of the electron quasi-Fermi level towards the conduction band is the reason for the observed V{sub oc} enhancements, and poor amorphous silicon quality on rough substrates enhances this effect.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗