• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2022

The most prevalent cause of solar cell efficiency loss is reduced recombination at the metal electrode and silicon junction. To boost efficiency, a a SiO_X/poly-Si passivating interface is being developed. Poly-Si for passivating contact is formed by various deposition methods (sputtering, PECVD, LPCVD, HWCVD) where the ploy-Si characterization depends on the deposition method. The sputtering process forms a dense Si film at a low deposition rate of 2.6 nm/min and develops a low passivation characteristic of 690 mV. The PECVD process offers a deposition rate of 28 nm/min with satisfactory passivation characteristics. The LPCVD process is the slowest with a deposition rate of 1.4 nm/min, and can prevent blistering if deposited at high temperatures. The HWCVD process has the fastest deposition rate at 150 nm/min with excellent passivation characteristics. However, the uniformity of the deposited film decreases as the area increases. Also, the best passivation characteristics are obtained at high doping. Thus, it is necessary to optimize the doping process depending on the deposition method.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.31-36
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• 2024

Passivating contacts are a promising technology for achieving high efficiency Si solar cells by reducing direct metal/Si contact. Among them, a polysilicon (poly-Si) based passivating contact solar cells achieve high passivation quality through a tunnel oxide (SiO_x) and poly-Si. In poly-Si/SiO_x based solar cells, the passivation quality depends on the amount of dopant in-diffused into the bulk-Si. Therefore, our study fabricated cells by inserting silicon oxide (SiO₂) as a doping barrier before doping and analyzed the barrier effect of SiO₂. In the experiments, p⁺ poly-Si was formed using spin on dopant (SOD) method, and samples ware fabricated by controlling formation conditions such as existence of doping barrier and poly-Si thickness. Completed samples were measured using quasi steady state photoconductance (QSSPC). Based on these results, it was confirmed that possibility of achieving high V_oc by inserting a doping barrier even with thin poly-Si. In conclusion, an improvement in implied V_oc of up to approximately 20 mV was achieved compared to results with thicker poly-Si results.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.60 no.12
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• pp.2265-2269
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• 2011

1 kV high-voltage GaN Schottky diode is realized using GaN-on-Si template by oxidizing Ni-Schottky contact. The Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis revealed the formation of $NiO_x$ at the top of Schottky contact. The Schottky contact was changed to from Ni/Au to Ni/Ni-Au alloy/Au/$NiO_x$ by oxidation. Ni diffusion into AlGaN improves the Schottky interface and the trap-assisted tunneling current. In addition, the reverse leakage current and the isolation-leakage current are efficiently suppressed by oxidation. The isolation-leakage current was reduced about 3 orders of magnitudes. The reverse leakage current was also decreased from 2.44 A/$cm^2$ to 8.90 mA/$cm^2$ under -100 V-biased condition. The formed group-III oxides ($AlO_x$ and $GaO_x$) during the oxidation is thought to suppress the surface leakage current by passivating surface dangling bonds, N-vacancies and process damages.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2023

p-type Tunnel Oxide Passivating Contacts (TOPCon) solar cell is fabricated with a poly-Si/SiO_x structure. It simultaneously achieves surface passivation and enhances the carriers' selective collection, which is a promising technology for conventional solar cells. The quality of passivation is depended on the quality of the tunnel oxide layer at the interface with the c-Si wafer, which is affected by the bond of SiO formed during the subsequent annealing process. The highest cell efficiency reported to date for the laboratory scale has increased to 26.1%, fabricated by the Institute for Solar Energy Research. The cells used a p-type float zone silicon with an interdigitated back contact (IBC) structure that fabricates poly-Si and SiO_x layer achieves the highest implied open-circuit voltage (iV_oc) is 750 mV, and the highest level of edge passivation is 40%. This review presents an overview of p-type TOPCon technologies, including the ultra-thin silicon oxide layer (SiO_x) and poly-silicon layer (poly-Si), as well as the advancement of the SiO_x and poly-Si layers. Subsequently, the limitations of improving efficiency are discussed in detail. Consequently, it is expected to provide a basis for the simplification of industrial mass production.