Investigations of the Boron Diffusion Process for n-type Mono-Crystalline Silicon Substrates and Ni/Cu Plated Solar Cell Fabrication

A boron doping process using a boron tri-bromide ($BBr_3$) as a boron source was applied to form a $p^+$ emitter layer on an n-type mono-crystalline CZ substrate. Nitrogen ($N_2$) gas as an additive of the diffusion process was varied in order to study the variations in sheet resistance and the uniformity of doped layer. The flow rate of $N_2$ gas flow was changed in the range 3 slm~10 slm. The sheet resistance uniformity however was found to be variable with the variation of the $N_2$ flow rate. The optimal flow rate for $N_2$ gas was found to be 4 slm, resulting in a sheet resistance value of $50{\Omega}/sq$ and having a uniformity of less than 10%. The process temperature was also varied in order to study its influence on the sheet resistance and minority carrier lifetimes. A higher lifetime value of $1727.72{\mu}s$ was achieved for the emitter having $51.74{\Omega}/sq$ sheet resistances. The thickness of the boron rich layer (BRL) was found to increase with the increase in the process temperature and a decrease in the sheet resistance was observed with the increase in the process temperature. Furthermore, a passivated emitter solar cell (PESC) type solar cell structure comprised of a boron doped emitter and phosphorus doped back surface field (BSF) having Ni/Cu contacts yielding 15.32% efficiency is fabricated.