TY - JOUR
T1 - Realizing the Potential of RF-Sputtered Hydrogenated Fluorine-Doped Indium Oxide as an Electrode Material for Ultrathin SiO x/Poly-Si Passivating Contacts
AU - Han, Can
AU - Yang, Guangtao
AU - Montes, Ana
AU - Procel, Paul
AU - Mazzarella, Luana
AU - Zhao, Yifeng
AU - Eijt, Stephan
AU - Schut, Henk
AU - Zhang, Xiaodan
AU - Zeman, Miro
AU - Isabella, Olindo
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In high-efficiency silicon solar cells featuring carrier-selective passivating contacts based on ultrathin SiOx/poly-Si, the appropriate implementation of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers is of vital importance. Considerable deterioration in passivation quality occurs for thin poly-Si-based devices owing to the sputtering damage during TCO deposition. Curing treatment at temperatures above 350 °C can recover such degradation, whereas the opto-electrical properties of the TCO are affected as well, and the carrier transport at the poly-Si/TCO contact is widely reported to degrade severely in such a procedure. Here, we propose straightforward approaches, post-deposition annealing at 400 °C in nitrogen, hydrogen, or air ambience, are proposed to tailor material properties of high-mobility hydrogenated fluorine-doped indium oxide (IFO:H) film. Structural, morphological, and opto-electrical properties of the IFO:H films are investigated as well as their inherent electron scattering and doping mechanisms. Hydrogen annealing treatment proves to be the most promising strategy. The resulting layer exhibits both optimal opto-electrical properties (carrier density = 1.5 × 1020 cm-3, electron mobility = 108 cm2 V-1 s-1, and resistivity = 3.9 × 10-4 ω cm) and remarkably low contact resistivities (∼20 mω cm2 for both n- and p-contacts) in poly-Si solar cells. Even though the presented cells are limited by the metallization step, the obtained IFO:H-base solar cell show an efficiency improvement from 20.1 to 20.6% after specific hydrogen treatment, demonstrating the potential of material manipulation and contact engineering strategy in high-efficiency photovoltaic devices endowed with TCOs.
AB - In high-efficiency silicon solar cells featuring carrier-selective passivating contacts based on ultrathin SiOx/poly-Si, the appropriate implementation of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers is of vital importance. Considerable deterioration in passivation quality occurs for thin poly-Si-based devices owing to the sputtering damage during TCO deposition. Curing treatment at temperatures above 350 °C can recover such degradation, whereas the opto-electrical properties of the TCO are affected as well, and the carrier transport at the poly-Si/TCO contact is widely reported to degrade severely in such a procedure. Here, we propose straightforward approaches, post-deposition annealing at 400 °C in nitrogen, hydrogen, or air ambience, are proposed to tailor material properties of high-mobility hydrogenated fluorine-doped indium oxide (IFO:H) film. Structural, morphological, and opto-electrical properties of the IFO:H films are investigated as well as their inherent electron scattering and doping mechanisms. Hydrogen annealing treatment proves to be the most promising strategy. The resulting layer exhibits both optimal opto-electrical properties (carrier density = 1.5 × 1020 cm-3, electron mobility = 108 cm2 V-1 s-1, and resistivity = 3.9 × 10-4 ω cm) and remarkably low contact resistivities (∼20 mω cm2 for both n- and p-contacts) in poly-Si solar cells. Even though the presented cells are limited by the metallization step, the obtained IFO:H-base solar cell show an efficiency improvement from 20.1 to 20.6% after specific hydrogen treatment, demonstrating the potential of material manipulation and contact engineering strategy in high-efficiency photovoltaic devices endowed with TCOs.
KW - carrier-selective passivating contacts
KW - hydrogen annealing
KW - hydrogenated fluorine-doped indium oxide (IFO:H)
KW - transparent conductive oxide (TCO)
KW - ultrathin SiO /poly-Si passivating contacts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090298491&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsaem.0c01206
DO - 10.1021/acsaem.0c01206
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090298491
SN - 2574-0962
VL - 3
SP - 8606
EP - 8618
JO - ACS Applied Energy Materials
JF - ACS Applied Energy Materials
IS - 9
ER -