• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.135.1-135.1
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• 2014

Silicon nanoparticles can be synthesized in a standard radio-frequency glow discharge system at low temperature (${\sim}200^{\circ}C$). Plasma synthesis of silicon nanoparticles, initially a side effect of powder formation, has become over the years an exciting field of research which has opened the way to new opportunities in the field of materials deposition and their application to optoelectronic devices. Hydrogenated polymorphous silicon (pm-Si:H) has a peculiar microstructure, namely a small volume fraction of plasma synthesized silicon nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous matrix, which originates from the unique deposition mechanism. Detailed discussion on plasma synthesis of silicon nanoparticles, growth mechanism and photovoltaic application of pm-Si:H will be presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.454-454
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• 2014

Silicon microwire array is one of the promising platforms as a means for developing highly efficient solar cells thanks to the enhanced light trapping efficiency. Among the various fabrication methods of microstructures, deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process has been extensively used in fabrication of high aspect ratio microwire arrays. In this presentation, we show precisely controlled Si microwire arrays by tuning the DRIE process conditions. A periodic microdisk arrays were patterned on 4-inch Si wafer (p-type, $1{\sim}10{\Omega}cm$) using photolithography. After developing the pattern, 150-nm-thick Al was deposited and lifted-off to leave Al microdisk arrays on the starting Si wafer. Periodic Al microdisk arrays (diameter of $2{\mu}m$ and periodic distance of $2{\mu}m$) were used as an etch mask. A DRIE process (Tegal 200) is used for anisotropic deep silicon etching at room temperature. During the process, $SF_6$ and $C_4F_8$ gases were used for the etching and surface passivation, respectively. The length and shape of microwire arrays were controlled by etching time and $SF_6/C_4F_8$ ratio. By adjusting $SF_6/C_4F_8$ gas ratio, the shape of Si microwire can be controlled, resulting in the formation of tapered or vertical microwires. After DRIE process, the residual polymer and etching damage on the surface of the microwires were removed using piranha solution ($H_2SO_4:H_2O_2=4:1$) followed by thermal oxidation ($900^{\circ}C$, 40 min). The oxide layer formed through the thermal oxidation was etched by diluted hydrofluoric acid (1 wt% HF). The surface morphology of a Si microwire arrays was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM, Hitachi S-4800). Optical reflection measurements were performed over 300~1100 nm wavelengths using a UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometer (Cary 5000, Agilent) in which a 60 mm integrating sphere (Labsphere) is equipped to account for total light (diffuse and specular) reflected from the samples. The total reflection by the microwire arrays sample was reduced from 20 % to 10 % of the incident light over the visible region when the length of the microwire was increased from $10{\mu}m$ to $30{\mu}m$.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.111-120
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• 2019

The output power of a crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) module is not directly the sum of the powers of its unit cells. There are several losses and gain mechanisms that reduce the total output power when solar cells are encapsulated into solar modules. Theses factors are getting high attention as the high cell efficiency achievement become more complex and expensive. More research works are involved to minimize the "cell-to-module" (CTM) loss. Our paper is aimed to focus on electrical losses due to interconnection and mismatch loss at PV modules. Research study shows that among all reasons of PV module failure 40.7% fails at interconnection. The mismatch loss in modern PV modules is very low (nearly 0.1%) but still lacks in the approach that determines all the contributing factors in mismatch loss. This review paper is related to study of interconnection loss technologies and key factors contributing to mismatch loss during module fabrication. Also, the improved interconnection technologies, understanding the approaches to mitigate the mismatch loss factors are precisely described here. This research study will give the approach of mitigating the loss and enable improvement in reliability of PV modules.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.573-579
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• 2011

Highly textured Ag, Al and Al:Si back reflectors for flexible n-i-p silicon thin-film solar cells were prepared on 100-${\mu}m$-thick stainless steel substrates by DC magnetron sputtering and the influence of their surface textures on the light-scattering properties were investigated. The surface texture of the metal back reflectors was influenced by the increased grain size and by the bimodal distribution that arose due to the abnormal grain growth at elevated deposition temperatures. This can be explained by the structure zone model (SZM). With an increase in the deposition temperatures from room temperature to $500^{\circ}C$, the surface roughness of the Al:Si films increased from 11 nm to 95 nm, whereas that of the pure Ag films increased from 6 nm to 47 nm at the same deposition temperature. Although Al:Si back reflectors with larger surface feature dimensions than pure Ag can be fabricated at lower deposition temperatures due to the lower melting point and the Si impurity drag effect, they show poor total and diffuse reflectance, resulting from the low reflectivity and reflection loss on the textured surface. For a further improvement of the light-trapping efficiency in solar cells, a new type of back reflector consisting of Ag/Al:Si bilayer is suggested. The surface morphology and reflectance of this reflector are closely dependent on the Al:Si bottom layer and the Ag top layer. The relationship between the surface topography and the light-scattering properties of the bilayer back reflectors is also reported in this paper.

• Journal of Korean Vacuum Science & Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.120-125
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• 2002

The aim of the present work is to optimized the annealing parameter in both front and back screen printed contacts realization on p-type multicrystalline silicon and with phosphorus diffused. The RTA treatments were carried out at various temperatures from 600 to 850$\^{C}$ and annealing time ranging from 3 min to 5 min in air, O$_2$and N$_2$ ambiance. The contacts parameters are obtained according to Transmission Line Model measurements. A good RTA cycle is obtained with a temperature plateau of 700$\^{C}$-750$\^{C}$ and annealing ambiance of air. Several processing parameters required for good cell efficiency are discussed with an emphasis placed on the critical role of the glass frit in the aluminum paste. A anamolus behaviour of Aluminum n-doping on p-type Si wafer, contact at high temperature have also been studied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.490.2-490.2
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• 2014

Since the general solar cells accept sun light at the front side, excluding the electrode area, electrons move from the emitter to the front electrode and start to collect at the grid edge. Thus the edge of gridline can be important for electrical properties of screen-printed silicon solar cells. In this study, the improvement of electrical properties in screen-printed crystalline silicon solar cells by contact treatment of grid edge was investigated. The samples with $60{\Omega}/{\square}$ and $70{\Omega}/{\square}$ emitter were prepared. After front side of samples was deposited by SiNx commercial Ag paste and Al paste were printed at front side and rear side respectively. Each sample was co-fired between $670^{\circ}C$ and $780^{\circ}C$ in the rapid thermal processing (RTP). After the firing process, the cells were dipped in 2.5% hydrofluoric acid (HF) at room temperature for various times under 60 seconds and then rinsed in deionized water. (This is called "contact treatment") After dipping in HF for a certain period, the samples from each firing condition were compared by measurement. Cell performances were measured by Suns-Voc, solar simulator, the transfer length method and a field emission scanning electron microscope. According to HF treatment, once the thin glass layer at the grid edge was etched, the current transport was changed from tunneling via Ag colloids in the glass layer to direct transport via Ag colloids between the Ag bulk and the emitter. Thus, the transfer length as well as the specific contact resistance decreased. For more details a model of the current path was proposed to explain the effect of HF treatment at the edge of the Ag grid. It is expected that HF treatment may help to improve the contact of high sheet-resistance emitter as well as the contact of a high specific contact resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2009

Fabrications of antireflection structures on solar cell were investigated to trap the light and to improve quantum efficiency. Introductions of patterned substrate or textured layer for Si solar cell were performed to prevent reflectance and to increase the path length of incoming light. However, it is difficult to deposit conformally flat electrode on perpendicular plane. ZnO is II-VI compound semiconductor and well-known wide band-gap material. It has similar electrical and optical properties as ITO, but it is nontoxic and stable. In this study, Al-doped ZnO thin films are deposited as transparent electrode by atomic layer deposition method to coat on Si substrate with micro-scale structures. The deposited AZO layer is flatted on horizontal plane as well as perpendicular one with conformal 200 nm thickness. The carrier concentration, mobility and resistivity of deposited AZO thin film on glass substrate were measured $1.4\times10^{20}cm^{-3}$, $93.3cm^2/Vs$, $4.732\times10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$ with high transmittance over 80%. The AZO films were coated with polyimide and performed selective polyimide stripping on head of column by reactive ion etching to measure resistance along columns surface. Current between the micro-columns flows onto the perpendicular plane of deposited AZO film with low resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.406-406
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• 2016

To get high efficiency n-type crystalline silicon solar cells, passivation is one of the key factor. Tunnel oxide (SiO2) reduce surface recombination as a passivation layer and it does not constrict the majority carrier flow. In this work, the passivation quality enhanced by different chemical solution such as HNO3, H2SO4:H2O2 and DI-water to make thin tunnel oxide layer on n-type crystalline silicon wafer and changes of characteristics by subsequent annealing process and firing process after phosphorus doped amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposition. The tunneling of carrier through oxide layer is checked through I-V measurement when the voltage is from -1 V to 1 V and interface state density also be calculated about $1{\times}1012cm-2eV-1$ using MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) structure . Tunnel oxide produced by 68 wt% HNO3 for 5 min on $100^{\circ}C$, H2SO4:H2O2 for 5 min on $100^{\circ}C$ and DI-water for 60 min on $95^{\circ}C$. The oxide layer is measured thickness about 1.4~2.2 nm by spectral ellipsometry (SE) and properties as passivation layer by QSSPC (Quasi-Steady-state Photo Conductance). Tunnel oxide layer is capped with phosphorus doped amorphous silicon on both sides and additional annealing process improve lifetime from $3.25{\mu}s$ to $397{\mu}s$ and implied Voc from 544 mV to 690 mV after P-doped a-Si deposition, respectively. It will be expected that amorphous silicon is changed to poly silicon phase. Furthermore, lifetime and implied Voc were recovered by forming gas annealing (FGA) after firing process from $192{\mu}s$ to $786{\mu}s$. It is shown that the tunnel oxide layer is thermally stable.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.528-533
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• 2018

In recent years, solar cells based on crystalline silicon(c-Si) have accounted for much of the photovoltaic industry. The recent studies have focused on fabricating c-Si solar modules with low cost and improved efficiency. Among many suggested methods, a photovoltaic module with a shingled structure that is connected to a small cut cell in series is a recent strong candidate for low-cost, high efficiency energy harvesting systems. The shingled structure increases the efficiency compared to the module with 6 inch full cells by minimizing optical and electrical losses. In this study, we propoese a new Conductive Paste (CP) to interconnect cells in a shingled module and compare it with the Electrical Conductive Adhesives (ECA) in the conventional module. Since the CP consists of a compound of tin and bismuth, the module is more economical than the module with ECA, which contains silver. Moreover, the melting point of CP is below $150^{\circ}C$, so the cells can be integrated with decreased thermal-mechanical stress. The output of the shingled PV module connected by CP is the same as that of the module with ECA. In addition, electroluminescence (EL) analysis indicates that the introduction of CP does not provoke additional cracks. Furthermore, the CP soldering connects cells without increasing ohmic losses. Thus, this study confirms that interconnection with CP can integrate cells with reduced cost in shingled c-Si PV modules.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.114-118
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• 2009

A new Zn/O single source precursor, TMEDA-Zn$(eacac)_2$, has been synthesized by using N, N, N’, N’-tetramethylethylendiamine (TMEDA), sodium ethyl-acetoacetate, and $ZnCl_2$. From this organometallic precursor, ZnO thin films have been successfully grown on Si (100) substrates through the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method at relatively mild conditions in the temperature range of 390~430 ${^{\circ}C}$. The synthesized ZnO films have been found to possess average grain sizes of about 70 nm with an orientation along the c-axis. The precursor and ZnO films are characterized through infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, EI-FAB-spectroscopy, elemental analyses, thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and field emission scanning electron microscopic analyses.