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Title:
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Multi-Crystalline Si Solar Cells with Very Fast Deposited (180 nm/min) Passivating Hot-Wire CVD Silicon Nitride as Antireflection Coating
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Author(s):
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Verlaan, V.; Werf, C.H.M. van der; Houweling, Z.S.; Romijn, I.G.; Weeber, A.W.; Dekkers, H.F.W.; Goldbach, H.D.
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
Solar Energy
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21-6-2007
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-W--07-025
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Article (scientific)
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Number of pages:
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0
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Published in: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications (John Wiley & Sons Ltd.), , 2007, Vol.4 July 2007, p.-.
Abstract:
Hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) is a promising technique for very fast deposition of high quality thin films. We developed processing conditions for devicequality silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) anti-reflection coating (ARC) at high deposition rates of 3 nm/s. The HWCVD SiNx layers were deposited on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells provided by IMEC and ECN Solar Energy. Reference cells were provided with optimized parallel plate PECVD SiNx and microwave PECVD SiNx respectively. The application of HWCVD SiNx on IMEC mc-Si solar cells led to effective passivation, evidenced by a Voc of 606mV and consistent IQE curves. For
further optimization, series were made withHWSiNx (with different x) on mc-Si solar cells from ECN Solar Energy. The best cell efficiencies were obtained for samples with a N/Si ratio of 12 and a high mass density of >29 g/cm3. The best solar cells reached an efficiency of 157%, which is similar to the best reference cell, made from neighboring wafers, with microwave PECVD SiNx. The IQE measurements and high Voc values for these cells with HW SiNx demonstrate good bulk passivation. PC1D simulations confirm the excellent bulk- and surface-passivation for HW SiNx
coatings. Interesting is the significantly higher blue response for the cells with HWCVD SiNx when compared to the PECVD SiNx reference cells. This difference in blue response is caused by lower light absorption of the HWCVD layers (compared to microwave CVD; ECN) and better surface passivation (compared to parallel plate PECVD; IMEC). The application of HW SiNx as a passivating antireflection layer on mc-Si solar cells leads to efficiencies comparable to those with optimized PECVD SiNx coatings, although HWCVD is performed at a much higher deposition rate.
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