• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.461-465
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• 2016

n-type silicon shows the better tolerance towards metal impurities with a higher minority carrier lifetime compared to p-type silicon substrate. Due to better lifetime stability as compared to p-type during illumination made the photovoltaic community to switch toward n-type wafers for high efficiency silicon solar cells. We fabricated the front electrode of the n-type solar cell with AgAl paste. The electrodes characteristics of the AgAl paste depend on the contact junction depth that is closely related to the firing temperature. Metal contact depth with p+ emitter, with optimized depth is important as it influence the resistance. In this study, we optimize the firing condition for the effective formation of the metal depth by varying the firing condition. The firing was carried out at temperatures below $670^{\circ}C$ with low contact depth and high contact resistance. It was noted that the contact resistance was reduced with the increase of firing temperature. The contact resistance of $5.99m{\Omega}cm^2$ was shown for the optimum firing temperature of $865^{\circ}C$. Over $900^{\circ}C$, contact junction is bonded to the Si through the emitter, resulting the contact resistance to shunt. we obtained photovoltaic parameter such as fill factor of 76.68%, short-circuit current of $40.2mA/cm^2$, open-circuit voltage of 620 mV and convert efficiency of 19.11%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.335.2-335.2
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• 2016

The fixed negative charge of the Al2O3 passivation layer gives excellent passivation performance for both n-type and p-type silicon wafers. For the best passivation quality, annealing is known to be a prerequisite step and a lot of studies concerning annealing effect on the passivation characteristics have been performed. Meanwhile, for manufacturing a crystalline silicon solar cell, firing process is applied to the Al2O3 passivation layer. Therefore, study on not only annealing effect but also on firing effect is necessary. In this work, Al2O3 passivation performance (minority carrier lifetime) for p-type silicon wafer was evaluated with Quasi-Steady-State Photoconductance(QSSPC) measurement after annealing at different temperatures. For the samples which showed different aspects, C-V measurement was performed for the cause - whether it is due to the chemical effect or field-effect. The change in Al2O3 passivation property after firing processes was investigated and the mechanism for the change could be estimated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.429-429
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• 2012

To investigate the gettering effect of B-doped n-type monocrystalline silicon wafer, we made the p-n junction by diffusing boron into n-type monocrystalline Si substrate and then oxidized the boron doped n-type monocrystalline silicon wafer by in-situ wet and dry oxidation. After oxidation, the minority carrier lifetime was measured by using microwave photoconductance and the sheet resistance by 4-point probe, respectively. The junction depth was analyzed by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). Boron diffusion reduced the metal impurities in the bulk of silicon wafer and increased the minority carrier lifetime. In the case of wet oxidation, the sheet resistance value of ${\sim}46{\Omega}/{\Box}$ was obtained at $900^{\circ}C$, depostion time 50 min, and drive-in time 10 min. Uniformity was ~7% at $925^{\circ}C$, deposition time 30 min, and drive-in time 10 min. Finally, the minority carrier lifetime was shown to be increased from $3.3{\mu}s$ for bare wafer to $21.6{\mu}s$ for $900^{\circ}C$, deposition 40 min, and drive-in 10 min condition. In the case of dry oxidation, for the condition of 50 min deposition, 10 min drive-in, and O2 flow of 2000 SCCM, the minority carrier lifetime of 16.3us, the sheet resistance of ${\sim}48{\Omega}/{\Box}$, and uniformity of 2% were measured.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2020

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a two-terminal tandem solar cell depends upon the tunnel-recombination junction (TRJ) between the top and bottom sub-cells. An optimized TRJ in a tandem cell helps improve its open-circuit voltage (V_oc), short-circuit current density (J_sc), fill factor (FF), and efficiency (PCE). One of the parameters that affect the TRJ is the buffer layer thickness. Therefore, we investigated various TRJs by varying the thickness of the buffer or intermediate layer (TRJ-buffer) in between the highly doped p-type and n-type layers of the TRJ. The TRJ-buffer layer was p-type nc-Si:H, with a doping of 0.06%, an activation energy (E_a) of 43 meV, an optical gap (E_g) of 2.04 eV, and its thickness was varied from 0 nm to 125 nm. The tandem solar cells we investigated were a combination of a heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) bottom sub-cell and an a-Si:H (amorphous silicon) top sub-cell. The initial cell efficiency without the TRJ buffer was 7.65% while with an optimized buffer layer, its efficiency improved to 11.74%, i.e., an improvement in efficiency by a factor of 1.53.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.65.1-65.1
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• 2011

결정질 실리콘 웨이퍼의 전면 재결합 속도, 비저항은 태양전지 특성에 영향을 끼치는 중요한 요소이다. 태양전지의 최종목표인 효율에 미치는 영향을 알아보기 위해 패시베이션 처리된 n-형 웨이퍼를 사용한 태양전지에서 웨이퍼의 비저항과 전면 재결합 속도를 조절하였고 그에 따른 변환 효율과 기본 파라미터 값의 변화를 확인하였다. PC1D를 사용하여 시뮬레이션을 수행하였으며 이론적으로 비저항 = $0.06557{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, 전면 재결합 속도 = 100cm/s에서 18.46%의 효율을 얻을 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1009-1014
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• 2012

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (${\alpha}$-Si:H) layers deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are investigated for use in silicon hetero-junction solar cells employing n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates. The optical and structural properties of silicon hetero-junction devices have been characterized using spectroscopy ellipsometry and high resolution cross-sectional transmission electron micrograph (HRTEM). In addition, the effective carrier lifetime is measured by the quasi-steady-state photocoductance (QSSPC) method. We have studied on the correlation between the order of ${\alpha}$-Si:H and the passivation quality at the interface of ${\alpha}$-Si:H/c-Si. Base on the result, we have fabricated a silicon hetero-junction solar cell incorporating the ${\alpha}$-Si:H passivation layer with on open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 637 mV.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.322-322
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• 2010

For boron doping on n-type silicon wafer, around $1,000^{\circ}C$ doping temperature is required, because of the relatively low solubility of boron in a crystalline silicon comparing to the phosphorus case. Boron doping by fiber laser annealing and lamp furnace heat treatment were carried out for the uniformly deposited p-a-Si:H layer. Since the uniformly deposited p-a-Si:H layer by cluster is highly needed to be doped with high temperature heat treatment. Amorphous silicon layer absorption range for fiber laser did not match well to be directly annealed. To improve the annealing effect, we introduce additional lamp furnace heat treatment. For p-a-Si:H layer with the ratio of $SiH_4:B_2H_6:H_2$=30:30:120, at $200^{\circ}C$, 50 W power, 0.2 Torr for 30 min. $20\;mm\;{\times}\;20\;mm$ size fiber laser cut wafers were activated by Q-switched fiber laser (1,064 nm) with different sets of power levels and periods, and for the lamp furnace annealing, $980^{\circ}C$ for 30 min heat treatment were implemented. To make the sheet resistance expectable and uniform as important processes for the $p^+$ layer on a polished n-type silicon wafer of (100) plane, the Q-switched fiber laser used. In consequence of comparing the results of lifetime measurement and sheet resistance relation, the fiber laser treatment showed the trade-offs between the lifetime and the sheet resistance as $100\;{\omega}/sq.$ and $11.8\;{\mu}s$ vs. $17\;{\omega}/sq.$ and $8.2\;{\mu}s$. Diode level device was made to confirm the electrical properties of these experimental results by measuring C-V(-F), I-V(-T) characteristics. Uniform and expectable boron heavy doped layers by fiber laser and lamp furnace are not only basic and essential conditions for the n-type crystalline silicon solar cell fabrication processes, but also the controllable doping concentration and depth can be established according to the deposition conditions of layers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.115-118
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• 2017

Highly photosensitive and wide bandgap amorphous silicon oxide (a-$SiO_x$:H) films were developed at low temperature ranges ($100{\sim}150^{\circ}C$) with employing plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition by optimizing $H_2/SiH_4$ gas ratio and $CO_2$ flow. Photosensitivity more than $10^5$ and wide bandgap (1.81~1.85 eV) properties were used for making the a-$SiO_x$:H thin film solar cells, which exhibited a high open circuit voltage of 0.987 V at the substrate temperature of $100^{\circ}C$. In addition, a power conversion efficiency of 6.87% for the cell could be improved up to 7.77% by employing a new n-type nc-$SiO_x$:H/ZnO:Al/Ag triple back-reflector that offers better short circuit currents in the thin film photovoltaic devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.351.2-351.2
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• 2014

Indium tin oxide (ITO) has a lot of variations of its properties because it is basically in an amorphous state. Therefore, the differences in composition ratio of ITO can result in alteration of electrical properties. Normally, ITO is considered as transparent conductive oxide (TCO), possessing excellent properties for the optical and electrical devices. Quantitatively, TCO has transparency over 80 percent within the range of 380nm to 780nm, which is visible light although its specific resistance is less than $10-3{\Omega}/cm$. Thus, the solar cell is the best example for which ITO has perfectly matching profile. In addition, when ITO is used as transparent conductive electrode, this material essentially has to have a proper work function with contact materials. For instance, heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell could have both front ITO and backside ITO. Because each side of ITO films has different type of contact materials, p-type amorphous silicon and n-type amorphous silicon, work function of ITO has to be modified to transport carrier with low built-in potential and Schottky barrier, and approximately requires variation from 3 eV to 5 eV. In this study, we examine the change of work function for different sputtering conditions using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). Structure of ITO films was investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical transmittance of the films was evaluated by using an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.204-208
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• 2011

In this paper, the design area of a fabricated solar cell has been analyzed with respect to its charge density. The mathematical calculation used for charge-density derivation was obtained from the 2001 version of a MATHCAD program. The parameter range for the calculations was ${\pm}1{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$, which is in the normal parameter range for n-type doping impurities ($7.0{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$) and also for p-type impurities ($4.0{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$). Therefore, it can be said that the fabricated solar-cell design area has a direct effect on charge-density changes.