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A New Method to Characterize TCO/P Contact Resistance in a-SI Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Steven S. Hegedus ,
Michael Gibson ,
Gautam Ganguly  and
Rajeewa Arya
Steven S. Hegedus
Affiliation:
Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA, ssh@udel.edu
Michael Gibson
Affiliation:
Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Gautam Ganguly
Affiliation:
Solarex, Toano, VA 23168, USA
Rajeewa Arya
Affiliation:
Solarex, Toano, VA 23168, USA
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Abstract

A method is presented to characterize the TCO/p contact and the TCO sheet resistance in a-Si based p-i-n superstrate devices. It requires having scribed TCO strips, which are electrically isolated before a-Si deposition, then fabricating rows of individual devices on each strip. Analysis of 4-terminal measurements in different V-sensing configurations yields the TCO/p contact and TCO sheet resistance in a straightforward manner. The method is applied to devices fabricated on 3 brands of commercial SnO2 substrates. The TCO/p contact resistance is found to be ~2 Ω-cm2 and the sheet resistance decreases by 2-4 Ω/sq after a-Si deposition on all 3 brands of SnO2 substrates.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 557: Symposium A – Amorphous and Heterogeneous Silicon Thin Films—Fundamentals to Devices—1999 , 1999 , 737
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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