Article
Energy & Fuels
G. Gaspar, C. Modanese, S. Bernardis, N. Enjalbert, L. Arnberg, S. Dubois, M. Di Sabatino
Summary: This study aims to investigate the influence of copper contamination on highly doped and compensated silicon materials. Experimental results show that copper atoms migrate to the surface and decrease the bulk copper content in n-type compensated wafers, while no accumulation of copper atoms is observed at the surface of p-type compensated material. However, the hole carrier mobility is affected in the presence of copper contamination.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Lailah Helmich, Dominic C. Walter, Robert Falster, Vladimir V. Voronkov, Jan Schmidt
Summary: The impact of hydrogen on boron-oxygen-related lifetime degradation and regeneration kinetics in boron-doped p-type Czochralski-grown silicon wafers was examined. It was found that hydrogen does not affect the degradation rate, but does affect the regeneration rate, with regeneration still working even without in-diffused hydrogen. This suggests that there are two distinct regeneration processes taking place.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Daniel Chen, Moonyong Kim, Jianwei Shi, Bruno Vicari Stefani, Zhengshan (Jason) Yu, Shaoyang Liu, Roland Einhaus, Stuart Wenham, Zachary Holman, Brett Hallam
Summary: This study integrates defect engineering methods of gettering and hydrogenation into silicon heterojunction solar cells, demonstrating the potential of making high-efficiency solar cells using low-lifetime p-type silicon wafers.
PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Dehang Lin, Zechen Hu, Qiyuan He, Deren Yang, Lihui Song, Xuegong Yu
Summary: This study investigated light-induced degradation experiments on p-type boron-doped Czochralski silicon wafers under different conditions, and found that peak firing temperature strongly influenced the regeneration rate of boron-oxygen related LID and the degradation kinetics of LeTID. Additionally, extending the duration of dark annealing pre-treatment was observed to decelerate the subsequent regeneration of BO defects, indicating a notable decrease in mobile hydrogen concentration during dark annealing. Based on this phenomenon, a hydrogen-related model based on reversible reaction was proposed to describe the behavior of LeTID in crystalline silicon.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zijing Wang, Xiaodong Zhu, Shuai Yuan, Xuegong Yu, Deren Yang
Summary: This paper investigates the formation and properties of swirl defects in Czochralski silicon solar cells and finds that these defects cause efficiency degradation. The swirl defects result in an energy level increase in the silicon bandgap and exhibit characteristics consistent with silicon/oxide interface states. Additionally, the swirl defects can evolve into stacking faults after annealing, leading to an additional energy level increase.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Crystallography
Felix Sturm, Matthias Trempa, Gordian Schuster, Rainer Hegermann, Philipp Goetz, Rolf Wagner, Gilvan Barroso, Patrick Meisner, Christian Reimann, Jochen Friedrich
Summary: Replacing silica glass crucible with oxygen-free crucible materials is crucial for obtaining Cz silicon with extremely low oxygen contamination required for power electronic applications. Isostatic pressed graphite or nitrogen-bonded silicon nitride (NSN) crucibles, combined with a chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride (CVD-Si3N4) surface coating, have shown promising potential in short-term experiments. However, understanding their long-term behavior is essential for evaluating their suitability for industrial scale Cz growth applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fatme Trad, Alaa E. Giba, Xavier Devaux, Mathieu Stoffel, Denis Zhigunov, Alexandre Bouche, Sebastien Geiskopf, Remi Demoulin, Philippe Pareige, Etienne Talbot, Michel Vergnat, Herve Rinnert
Summary: This study investigates the influence of phosphorous atoms on the phase separation and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals. It is found that phosphorus incorporation modifies the growth mechanism of Si-NCs, promoting phase separation and leading to nanocrystal formation at lower annealing temperatures. The presence of phosphorus also affects the size and emission wavelength of Si-NCs, and low phosphorus content can significantly improve photoluminescence intensity.
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
C. Besleaga, A. Kuncser, A. Nitescu, G. Kramberger, M. Moll, I Pintilie
Summary: The study found correlations between BiOi defect concentration and irradiation fluence, as well as ambient and procedural experimental conditions. Variations in these conditions result in scattering of defect electrical activity and measurement results.
NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Andrei Nitescu, Cristina Besleaga, George Alexandru Nemnes, Ioana Pintilie
Summary: The acceptor removal process in irradiated boron-doped silicon is caused by radiation-induced boron-containing donor defects with bistable properties. The properties and kinetics of the defect in two configurations (A and B) were studied using capacitance-voltage measurements. The energy barriers and transformation rates for the A → B and B → A transitions were determined, indicating electron capture and emission processes, respectively.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhuopeng Wu, Weiyuan Duan, Andreas Lambertz, Depeng Qiu, Manuel Pomaska, Zhirong Yao, Uwe Rau, Liping Zhang, Zhengxin Liu, Kaining Ding
Summary: This study demonstrates the implementation of trimethyl boron doped p-type a-Si:H film as a hole transport layer contacting with indium-free aluminum doped zinc oxide in silicon heterojunction solar cells. The research shows that moderate doping concentration can help achieve low defect density and high doping level in the film, resulting in improved cell performance with low contact resistivity.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Dehang Lin, Zechen Hu, Lihui Song, Deren Yang, Xuegong Yu
Summary: Through LeTID experiments, we found that temperature significantly affects the optoelectronic properties of gallium-doped Cz-Si wafers, with the degradation process divided into fast and slow stages, each having different reaction rates. The variation in activation energies and capture cross-section ratios indicates the physical mechanisms behind the different degradation processes.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Haiyang Xing, Zunke Liu, Zhenhai Yang, Mingdun Liao, Qinqin Wu, Na Lin, Wei Liu, Chuanfan Ding, Yuheng Zeng, Baojie Yan, Jichun Ye
Summary: In this work, we study the preparation of high-quality p-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (p-TOPCon) using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology. Different plasmas are used to treat the ultrathin SiOx in order to improve the passivation quality. Pure H2 plasma treatment improves the SiOx quality but not the passivation quality, while pure N2O plasma improves the passivation quality but increases the contact resistivity. N2O/H2 plasma treatment is found to be the most effective in improving passivation quality while maintaining an acceptable contact resistivity.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Saman Jafari, Yan Zhu, Fiacre Rougieux, Joyce Ann T. De Guzman, Vladimir P. Markevich, Anthony R. Peaker, Ziv Hameiri
Summary: Using the photoconductance decay measurement method, this study identified the precursor of the defect responsible for light-induced degradation in boron-doped Czochralski-grown silicon wafers. The presence of a minority carrier trap in the annealed state, which disappeared after degradation, was observed. The study also concluded that the detected trap has two or more energy levels, indicating that a single-level trap model cannot explain the doping-dependent measurements.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
V. V. Voronkov, R. Falster
Summary: In this paper, the evolution of HB pairs in fired B-doped samples is studied using measured data on the concentration of free and trapped ions. Model parameters are extracted and it is found that the loss of HB can be caused by hydrogen out-diffusion, although the computed diffusion-limited loss is faster than the observed loss. The discrepancy may be due to the initial trapping of hydrogen in a metastable state.
MATERIALS SCIENCE IN SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhiqiang Gao, Qingyu Yang, Pengfei Qiu, Tian-Ran Wei, Shiqi Yang, Jie Xiao, Lidong Chen, Xun Shi
Summary: This study reports the first p-type plastic inorganic TE material, which achieved both good plasticity and p-type conduction by alloying Cu in n-type plastic Ag2S0.7Se0.3. The hexagonal structure (Ag0.2Cu0.8)(2)S0.7Se0.3 exhibited a maximum zT of 0.42 at 800 K, and by introducing Cu deficiencies, the maximum zT was greatly enhanced to 0.95 at 800 K, a record-high value for plastic TE materials.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Jochen Busam, Gagan Paudel, Marisa Di Sabatino
Summary: The capabilities of indium and silicon as secondary cathodes for direct current glow discharge mass spectrometry (dc-GDMS) were compared, demonstrating that silicon is a good alternative material.
JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Rania Hendawi, Lars Arnberg, Marisa Di Sabatino
Summary: This study focuses on the interactions between the gas atmosphere, liquid silicon, Si3N4 coating, and graphite. Experimental results show that carbon monoxide inhibits the infiltration and spreading of silicon droplets during wetting, while nitrogen promotes silicon wetting and accelerates the decomposition rate of silicon content in the coating.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Rania Hendawi, Lars Arnberg, Marisa Di Sabatino
Summary: The research on coatings for graphite materials reveals that using a two-layer coating technique can improve non-wetting behavior, decrease coating degradation rate, and reduce CO evolution during isothermal holding, achieving minimal detrimental interaction between graphite and silicon oxides.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
T. Niewelt, B. Steinhauser, A. Richter, B. Veith-Wolf, A. Fell, B. Hammann, N. E. Grant, L. Black, J. Tan, A. Youssef, J. D. Murphy, J. Schmidt, M. C. Schubert, S. W. Glunz
Summary: This study characterizes and optimizes next-generation silicon solar cell concepts by accurately assessing intrinsic recombination in crystalline silicon. By fabricating high-quality silicon sample sets and considering reabsorption effects, the researchers were able to extract the lifetime limitation due to Auger recombination. The revised fundamental limiting power conversion efficiency for single-junction crystalline silicon solar cells provides greater accuracy and alignment with actual recombination processes in silicon-based photovoltaics.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Lailah Helmich, Dominic C. Walter, Thomas Pernau, Jan Schmidt
Summary: This study examines the long-term stability of boron-doped silicon materials with different concentrations of boron and oxygen. The results show that the industrial process of firing and subsequent regeneration is effective in maintaining carrier lifetime in silicon materials.
IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
Dominic C. Walter, Vladimir V. Voronkov, Robert Falster, Dennis Bredemeier, Jan Schmidt
Summary: This study found that silicon samples processed with a hydrogen-rich silicon nitride layer on their surfaces can contain a high concentration of hydrogen. Dark annealing can convert the hydrogen from neutral dimers into HB pairs, rendering a significant number of boron acceptors electrically inactive. By measuring the change in specific resistivity, the concentration of inactive boron can be determined. Additionally, annealing at higher temperatures can partially revert the HB pairs back into neutral hydrogen dimers, leading to a gradual reduction in resistivity.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael Winter, Dominic C. Walter, Byungsul Min, Robby Peibst, Rolf Brendel, Jan Schmidt
Summary: The fast-firing step at the end of solar cell production lines can induce light-induced degradation effects on solar cells made on different silicon materials. This study focuses on the degradation phenomena of high-efficiency solar cells with poly-Si passivating contacts made on Ga-doped Czochralski-grown silicon (Cz-Si) under elevated temperatures. The degradation extent increases with temperature up to 140 degrees C, but decreases beyond that. The degradation primarily affects the short-circuit current and fill factor, with a lesser impact on the open-circuit voltage. The degradation in these solar cells is significantly lower compared to B-doped Cz-Si wafers. Additionally, prolonged illumination at elevated temperatures can lead to improved conversion efficiency and long-term stability.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
G. Gaspar, C. Modanese, S. Bernardis, N. Enjalbert, L. Arnberg, S. Dubois, M. Di Sabatino
Summary: This study aims to investigate the influence of copper contamination on highly doped and compensated silicon materials. Experimental results show that copper atoms migrate to the surface and decrease the bulk copper content in n-type compensated wafers, while no accumulation of copper atoms is observed at the surface of p-type compensated material. However, the hole carrier mobility is affected in the presence of copper contamination.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Gabriel Bartholazzi, M. M. Shehata, Daniel H. Macdonald, Lachlan E. Black
Summary: In this study, Cu2O thin films were successfully deposited using copper acetylacetonate as a precursor and a combination of water and oxygen as reactants at 200 degrees C. The deposited Cu2O film was found to be polycrystalline and uniform, with specific bandgap values.
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Vladyslav Matkivskyi, Arne Karstein Royset, Gaute Stokkan, Pal Tetlie, Marisa Di Sabatino, Gabriella Tranell
Summary: This study demonstrated the combined use of white light interferometry (WLI) and Laue X-ray crystallography scanner characterisation to investigate the chemical etching response of diamond cut multi-crystalline Si (mc-Si) wafers. The topography of mc-Si surfaces before and after etching was examined to evaluate the effect of different texturing additives. The results illustrated the influence of different crystal orientations on the etching rate, with the etching speed increasing with the crystallographic similarity to the main (hkl) planes (100,110,111). The comparison of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) additives showed NaOCl to be favorable for polishing mc-Si wafers, while IPA can only be used for crystal grains close to the (111) orientation.
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING B-ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL SOLID-STATE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
A. V. Bugten, L. Michels, R. B. Brurok, C. Hartung, E. Ott, L. Vines, Y. Li, L. Arnberg, M. Di Sabatino
Summary: The effects of boron at various concentrations on low copper spheroidal graphite iron (SGI) were investigated. It was found that boron had no noticeable effect on the size distributions, number densities, or morphologies of microparticle populations, as well as the size distributions or number densities of graphite nodules at concentrations of 130 to 140 ppm. However, even at concentrations as low as 24 ppm, boron was observed to cause rough surface morphology of graphite nodules.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A-PHYSICAL METALLURGY AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mohamed M. Shehata, Thien N. Truong, Rabin Basnet, Hieu T. Nguyen, Daniel H. Macdonald, Lachlan E. Black
Summary: Impedance spectroscopy is a powerful characterization technique that has not been widely applied to c-Si solar cells. This study demonstrates the application of IS technique to a high-efficiency c-Si solar cell and shows that it can distinguish different components and determine lifetimes. The findings suggest that IS is a promising technique for exploring dynamic properties of high-efficiency c-Si solar cells.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christoph Flathmann, Tobias Meyer, Valeriya Titova, Jan Schmidt, Michael Seibt
Summary: Carrier-selective and passivating SiOx/TiOy heterocontacts show great potential as alternative contacts, combining high efficiency with simpler processing. This study uses nanoscale electron microscopy to analyze well-characterized solar cells with SiOx/TiOy/Al rear contacts. The results show that annealing causes partial intermixing of the SiOx and TiOy layers, leading to a reduction in apparent thickness of the passivating SiOx. However, the electronic structure of the layers remains distinct, highlighting the importance of tailoring the processing to achieve efficient tunneling through a thin SiOx layer.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vladyslav Matkivskyi, Arne Karstein Royset, Gaute Stokkan, Pal Tetlie, Marisa Di Sabatino, Gabriella Tranell
Summary: This study aims to develop a combined surface morphology and crystallographic analysis method for crystalline silicon. By applying various chemical operations to multi-crystalline silicon samples and analyzing them using WLI and Laue techniques, maps for crystal orientation to etching rate dependency were created. The study demonstrates the strengths of this combinatory technique as an alternative to existing methods such as AFM and EBSD.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Benjamin Grimm, Sascha J. Wolter, Jan Schmidt
Summary: In this study, the contactless quasi-steady-state photoconductance (QSSPC) method was used to investigate co-evaporated methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI(3)) perovskite thin films. By adapting the calibration for ultralow photoconductances, the injection-dependent carrier lifetime of the MAPbI(3) layer was extracted. It was found that the lifetime was limited by radiative recombination at high injection densities, allowing for the determination of the sum of electron and hole mobility in the MAPbI(3) using the known coefficient of radiative recombination. The combination of QSSPC measurement and transient photoluminescence measurements provided an injection-dependent lifetime curve over several orders of magnitude, from which the achievable open-circuit voltage of the examined MAPbI(3) layer was determined.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
