器件质量级微晶硅薄膜光稳定性研究

利用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积（RFPECVD）技术,通过改变SiH4浓度制备了一系列不同晶化率（Xc）的本征Si薄膜材料。通过测量其Raman谱和光、暗电导率（σph、σd）研究了工艺变化对材料结构的影响及材料光电特性同微观结构的关系,然后对样品进行老化实验,测量其光照前后的吸收系数α及量子效率、迁移率和寿命的乘积nμτ。分析其光照前后光电性能的变化规律结果表明,相变域附近的微晶硅（μc-Si：H）薄膜材料适合制备μc-Si2H太阳电池;结合退火实验的结果发现,μc-Si：H材料中的非晶成分是导致微晶材料光电特性衰退的主要原因。     

流量对高速沉积的微晶硅电池性能的影响

采用超高频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(VHF-PECVD)技术研究微晶硅(μc-Si)薄膜的高速沉积过程发现:分别采用100和500 sccm流量制备本征μc-Si材料,将其应用在μc-Si电池i层,电池的电流-电压(I-V)特性有明显的差异.通过微区Raman、原子力显微镜(AFM)和X射线衍射(XRD)测试发现:尽管μc-Si薄膜的晶化率相似,但是小流量情况下制备的薄膜具有较厚的非晶孵化层,晶粒尺寸不一;大流量下制备的材料沿生长方向的纵向均匀性相对较好,晶粒尺寸较小、分布均匀,而且具有〈220〉晶相峰强度高于〈111〉和〈311〉晶相峰强度的特点.因此得出:在高压高速沉积μc-Si薄膜过程中,反应气体流量对μc-Si的纵向结构有很大影响,选择适合的反应气流量能够调节适宜的气体滞留时间,从而减小薄膜的纵向不均匀性.     

高速沉积μc-Si:H薄膜生长机制及其微结构的研究

采用高压高功率的超高频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(VHF-PECVD)技术,在腐蚀后的7059玻璃、低晶化和高晶化的微晶硅(μc-Si:H)p型材料3种衬底上,通过改变沉积时间的方法,高速(沉积速率约为1 nm/s)沉积了不同厚度的μc-Si:H薄膜材料.测试其表面形貌及晶化率,比较了不同衬底上高速生长的μc-Si:H薄膜生长机制及微结构的差异,最后得到适于高速沉积pin μc-Si:H太阳电池的μc-Si:H p型材料应具备的条件.     

用生长/氢等离子体交替处理堆积层表面技术制备微晶硅薄膜

利用HW-MWECR CVD系统,用氢等离子体处理间隙生长堆积层表面技术,制备了一系列不同厚度的μc-Si:H薄膜.发现,当薄膜厚度在0.55μm以下时,样品具有较为典型的非晶硅特征,光电导衰退率很大;当薄膜厚度为0.60～0.70μm之间时,样品兼备非晶和微晶的特点,在这一厚度范围内,光电导随薄膜厚度变化非常敏感,光电导衰退率较小;当薄膜厚度为0.80μm以上时,薄膜表现为明显的微晶硅性质,其光电导衰退率很小,通过模拟光照53.5h,其光电导几乎不变化.     

用生长/氢等离子体交替处理堆积层表面技术制备微晶硅薄膜

利用HW-MWECR CVD系统,用氢等离子体处理间隙生长堆积层表面技术,制备了一系列不同厚度的μc-Si:H薄膜.发现,当薄膜厚度在0.55μm以下时,样品具有较为典型的非晶硅特征,光电导衰退率很大;当薄膜厚度为0.60～0.70μm之间时,样品兼备非晶和微晶的特点,在这一厚度范围内,光电导随薄膜厚度变化非常敏感,光电导衰退率较小;当薄膜厚度为0.80μm以上时,薄膜表现为明显的微晶硅性质,其光电导衰退率很小,通过模拟光照53.5h,其光电导几乎不变化.     

RF-PECVD高速沉积优质过渡区微晶硅薄膜

利用13.56MHz射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术高速沉积非晶/微晶过渡区的微晶硅(μc-Si:H)薄膜.研究了沉积压力、射频功率、电极间距、氢稀释度等参数对沉积速率、电学性质等的影响.选择优化的沉积参数,在非晶到微晶的过渡区得到了沉积速率为0.3～0.4nm/s的μc-Si:H薄膜.薄膜的暗电导在10-7S/cm量级,光暗电导比近2个量级,电导激活能在0.52eV左右,薄膜结构致密,达到了器件级质量.     

RF-PECVD高速沉积优质过渡区微晶硅薄膜

利用13.56MHz射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术高速沉积非晶/微晶过渡区的微晶硅(μc-Si:H)薄膜.研究了沉积压力、射频功率、电极间距、氢稀释度等参数对沉积速率、电学性质等的影响.选择优化的沉积参数,在非晶到微晶的过渡区得到了沉积速率为0.3～0.4nm/s的μc-Si:H薄膜.薄膜的暗电导在10-7S/cm量级,光暗电导比近2个量级,电导激活能在0.52eV左右,薄膜结构致密,达到了器件级质量.     

RF-PECVD高速沉积优质过渡区微晶硅薄膜

利用13.56MHz射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术高速沉积非晶/微晶过渡区的微晶硅(μc-Si∶H)薄膜. 研究了沉积压力、射频功率、电极间距、氢稀释度等参数对沉积速率、电学性质等的影响. 选择优化的沉积参数，在非晶到微晶的过渡区得到了沉积速率为0.3～0.4nm/s的μc-Si∶H薄膜. 薄膜的暗电导在1e-7S/cm量级，光暗电导比近2个量级，电导激活能在0.52eV左右，薄膜结构致密，达到了器件级质量.     

VHF-PECVD法制备P型微晶硅锗的研究

以SiH4和GeF4为反应气体,采用甚高频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(VHF-PECVD)方法制备了P型微晶硅锗(P-μc-Si1-xGex)薄膜.研究GeF4浓度对P型微晶硅锗材料组分、结构及电学特性的影响.随GeF4浓度的增加,薄膜中的锗含量增加,暗电导和晶化率先增加,后减小;在薄膜厚度为72 nm,GeF4浓度为4%时,得到了电导率达1.68 S/cm,激活能为0.047 eV,晶化率为60%,在长波区域的平均透过率超过0.9的P型微晶硅锗.     

单室沉积本征微晶硅薄膜及其在电池中的应用

为获得单室沉积高效微晶硅(μc-Si)太阳电池,首先采用甚高频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(VHF-PECVD)技术制备了不同沉积条件下的本征μc-Si薄膜.通过对材料的结构和电学输运特性的研究,借鉴分室沉积的器件质量级μc-Si材料的经验,选取合适的本征层和P种子层处理B污染的技术,在单室中制备出光电转换效率为6.23%(1 cm2)的单结μc-Si电池.     

Highly efficient 115‐μm‐thick solar cells on industrial Czochralski silicon

Thin solar cells on industrial Czochralski‐material were produced and analyzed. For the Random Pyramid – Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (RP – PERC) with planar rear surface, a maximum efficiency of near 20% was achieved for 115 as well as 165 μm thickness. In comparison, cells textured at the rear surface with a standard industrial process reached about a 2% (absolute) lower efficiency. This difference is consistently explained by an increased rear surface recombination, whereas light trapping properties are excellent for both rear surface treatments. The Cz‐specific light‐induced degradation of the thin cells is investigated. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Estimation of the degradation of amorphous silicon solar cells

A long-term degradation test on amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells was performed under various light intensity and temperature conditions. We derived a basic equation for estimating the degradation of conversion efficiency and clarified the dependence of the level of degradation on these parameters. A unique phenomenon in which degradation was suppressed with increasing temperature was observed, and negative activation energies were obtained. The degraded characteristics of the solar cells recovered upon thermal annealing and the recovery characteristics were approximately using a stretched exponential function. The mechanisms by which degradation and recovery advance simultaneously with time are discussed.     

Morphological Tuning of the Energetics in Singlet Fission Organic Solar Cells

Effective singlet fission solar cells require both fast and efficient singlet fission as well as favorable energetics for harvesting the resulting triplet excitons. Notable progress has been made to engineer materials with rapid and efficient singlet fission, but the ability to control the energetics of these solar cells remains a challenge. Here, it is demonstrated that the interfacial charge transfer state energy of a rubrene/C₆₀ solar cell can be modified dramatically by the morphology of its constituent films. The effect is so pronounced that a crystalline system is able to dissociate and collect triplets generated through singlet fission whereas an as‐deposited amorphous system is not. Furthermore, a novel technique for studying the behavior of this class of devices using external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements in the presence of a background light is described. When this method is applied to rubrene/C₆₀ solar cells, it is shown that triplet–triplet annihilation makes significant contributions to photocurrent in the amorphous device—enhancing EQE by over 12% at relatively low intensities of background light (4 mW cm^?2)—while detracting from photocurrent in the crystalline device. Finally, the conclusions on how the material system is affected by its morphology are strengthened by time‐resolved photoluminescence experiments.     

Design of Ag nanograting for broadband absorption enhancement in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

Light trapping is one of the key issues to improve the light absorption and increase the efficiency of thin film solar cells. The effects of the triangular Ag nanograting on the absorption of amorphous silicon solar cells were investigated by a numerical simulation based on the finite element method. The light absorption under different angle and area of the grating has been calculated. Furthermore, the light absorption with different incident angle has been calculated. The optimization results show that the absorption of the solar cell with triangular Ag nanograting structure and anti-reflection film is enhanced up to 96% under AM1.5 illumination in the 300–800 nm wavelength range compared with the reference cell. The physical mechanisms of absorption enhancement in different wavelength range have been discussed. Furthermore, the solar cell with the Ag nanograting is much less sensitive to the angle of incident light. These results are promising for the design of amorphous silicon thin film solar cells with enhanced performance.     

Long-term degradation tests of amorphous silicon solar cells: Correlation between light- and current-induced degradation characteristics

Long-term degradation tests were conducted on amorphous silicon solar cells by light and current-induced technique. The correlation of the degradation patterns and the lifetime estimation data in these two methods have confirmed that mutual stress conversion of light intensity P_L and current intensitiy I_j is possible in estimating the lifetime of solar cells. The degradation tests are conducted at the same stress level which is expressed by the equation P_L =B·I_j^ε. It has also been revealed that the short-circuit current of the cell,generated at light intensity P_L is almost equal to the value obtained from the stress conversion of I_J. Light-induced degradation is suppressed with increasing ambient temperature and is also same for current-induced degradation. The degradation and recovery mechanisms are common in both case.     

太阳能电池的电势诱导衰减及检测

晶体硅组件的电势诱导衰减是现在的晶体硅电池组件在高电压系统下广泛面临的失效模式。常规组件的测试方法需要至少96小时的测试时间。在本文中,我们试图通过实验找到一种快速的太阳能电池的抗电势诱导衰减性能的方法。采用NaCl溶液作为Na+源, PVB 作为封装材料,我们能够在1小时内完成实验。在使用了新的抗电势诱导衰减工艺的太阳能电池上也成功进行了测试。经过试验证明实验前后电池片的反向电流的变化是很重要的判断标准。通常具有抗电势诱导衰退性能的电池反向漏电试验后变化是小于2倍的。电池的结果和相对应的组件的测试结果进行了比较,结果显示两者吻合的很好。     

Photoconductivity of two-phase hydrogenated silicon films

Electrical, photoelectric, and optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films with various ratios between the nanocrystalline and amorphous phases in the structure of the material have been studied. On passing from an amorphous to a nanocrystalline structure, the room-temperature conductivity of the films increases by more than five orders of magnitude. With increasing fraction of the nanocrystalline component in the film structure, the steady-state photoconductivity varies nonmonotonically and is determined by the variation in the carrier mobility and lifetime. Introduction of a small fraction of nanocrystals into the amorphous matrix leads to a decrease in the absorption in the defect-related part of the spectrum and, accordingly, to a lower concentration of dangling bonds, which are the main recombination centers in amorphous hydrogenated silicon. At the same time, the photoconductivity in these films becomes lower, which may be due to appearance of new centers that are related to nanocrystals and reduce the lifetime of nonequilibrium carriers.     

Development of oxide based window and buffer layer for single junction amorphous solar cell: Reduction of light induced degradation

Single junction a-Si:H solar cell using oxide based window and buffer layer was fabricated by using a conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. The impact of oxide based window layers and the effect of oxide buffer layer thickness on light induced degradation are investigated. Solar cells with optimized oxide based window and buffer layers have been fabricated with an optical gap of 1.97 eV and 1.86 eV. On comparing these solar cells with carbide based window and buffer layers, it is found that light induced degradation (LID) of oxide based cells is almost 4% less than the carbide based ones. Oxide based cells show significant improvement in quantum efficiency for lower wavelength region, compared to carbide based cells. Stabilized efficiency after 1000 h light soaking for the oxide and carbide based solar cells is found to be 7.55% and 6.50%, respectively.     

Impact of light‐induced recombination centres on the current–voltage characteristic of czochralski silicon solar cells

We have investigated the effect of the light‐induced deep‐level recombination centre specific to boron‐doped, oxygen‐contaminated Czochralski (Cz) silicon on the current–voltage characteristic of Cz silicon solar cells by means of numerical simulation and experiment. The device simulation predicts the occurrence of a shoulder in the current–voltage curve after activating the characteristic recombination centre. The physical reason for the non‐ideal diode behaviour, characterised by a local ideality factor greater unity, is the strongly injection‐level‐dependent bulk lifetime produced by the deep‐level centre. The increased ideality factor causes a degradation in fill factor with the magnitude of degradation depending on the doping concentration of the Cz silicon base. In order to verify the theoretical predictions experimentally, we have performed measurements on high‐efficiency Cz silicon solar cells. Current–voltage curves recorded before and after light degradation clearly show the theoretically predicted change in shape and the reduction in fill factor. An excellent quantitative agreement between calculation and experiment is obtained for the subtracted current–voltage curves measured after and before illumination. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New developments in amorphous thin-film silicon solar cells

Thin-film silicon solar cells usually contain amorphous silicon layers made by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). This CVD method has the advantage that large-area devices can be manufactured at a low processing temperature, thus facilitating low-cost solar cells on glass, metal foil, or polymer foil. In order to obtain higher conversion efficiencies while keeping the manufacturing cost low, a new development is to introduce low bandgap materials in a multijunction device structure. A frequently used low bandgap material is amorphous silicon-germanium. Record initial efficiencies in excess of 15% have been reported for triple-junction solar cells comprising these alloys. In this paper, we present a novel manufacturing method for amorphous silicon based tandem cells suitable for roll-to-roll production