The author provides a historical review of research into the atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) of Al₂O₃ for silicon surface passivation in solar cell devices, considering deposition temperature influence on excess carrier lifetime, film thickness and interface state density.

Chapter Contents:

• References

Inspec keywords: interface states; alumina; elemental semiconductors; insulating thin films; solar cells; carrier lifetime; semiconductor-insulator boundaries; silicon; chemical vapour deposition; passivation

Other keywords: excess carrier lifetime; deposition temperature; silicon surface passivation; interface state density; solar cells; Si; APCVD; atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition; film thickness; Al₂O₃

Subjects: Thin film growth, structure, and epitaxy; Surface treatment (semiconductor technology); Surface treatment and degradation in semiconductor technology; Electronic structure of elemental semiconductors (thin films, low dimensional and nanoscale structures); Electrical properties of metal-insulator-semiconductor structures; Charge carriers: generation, recombination, lifetime, and trapping (semiconductors/insulators); Chemical vapour deposition; Metal-insulator-semiconductor structures; Elemental semiconductors; Chemical vapour deposition; Electronic structure of other inorganic semiconductors and insulators (thin films, low dimensional and nanoscale structures); Photoelectric conversion; solar cells and arrays; Electrical properties of elemental semiconductors (thin films, low-dimensional and nanoscale structures); Electrical properties of insulators (thin films, low-dimensional and nanoscale structures)