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Importance of Defect Density near the p-i Interface for a-Si:H Solar Cell Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

C. Smit
Affiliation:
Delft University of Technology, DIMES, Feldmannweg 17, 2628 CT DELFT, The Netherlands Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Applied Physics, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands
R.A.C.M.M. van Swaaij
Affiliation:
Delft University of Technology, DIMES, Feldmannweg 17, 2628 CT DELFT, The Netherlands
D.C. Schram
Affiliation:
Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Applied Physics, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands
M.C.M. van de Sanden
Affiliation:
Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Applied Physics, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB EINDHOVEN, The NetherlandsM.C.M.v.d.Sanden@tue.nl
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Abstract

A cascaded arc expanding thermal plasma is used to deposit intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon at growth rates larger than 2 Å/s. Implementation into a single junction p-i-n solar cell resulted in initial efficiencies of ∼7%, although all the optical and initial electrical properties of the individual layers are comparable with RF-PECVD deposited films. The somewhat lower efficiency is due to a smaller fill factor. Spectral response measurements, illuminated J,V- measurements, and simulations indicate that a higher local defect density in the region near the p-i interface might be responsible for the smaller fill factor in comparison with conventional low- rate RF-PECVD. The higher defect density is most likely caused by the initial growth in the first 10 to 50 nm. Therefore, controlled initial growth of the intrinsic layer is suggested for good solar cell performance.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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References

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