열산화법에 의한 phosphorus 에미터 pile-up

Pile-up of phosphorus emitters using thermal oxidation

Phosphorus is known to pile-up at the silicon surface when it is thermally oxidized. A thin layer, about 40nm thick from the silicon surface, is created containing more phosphorus than the bulk of the emitter. This layer has a gaussian profile with the peak at the surface of the silicon. In this study the pile-up effect was studied if this layer can act as a front surface field for solar cells. The effect was also tested if its high dose of phosphorus at the silicon surface can lower the contact resistance with the front metal contact. P-type wafers were first doped with phosphorus to create an n-type emitter. The doping was done using either a furnace or ion implantation. The wafers were then oxidized using dry thermal oxidation. The effect of the pile-up as a front surface field was checked by measuring the minority carrier lifetime using a QSSPC. The contact resistance of the wafers were also measured to see if the pile-up effect can lower the series resistance.