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Photoelectric conversion; solar cells and arrays

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Microcrystalline and polycrystalline silicon films for solar cells obtained by gas-jet electron-beam PECVD method
Author(s): R. Bilyalov, J. Poortmans, R. Sharafutdinov, S. Khmel, V. Schukin, O. Semenova, L. Fedina
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 293 - 299
Type: Article
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A new gas-jet electron beam plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (GJEB PECVD) method for high-rate deposition of crystalline silicon films is presented. The method is based on the activation of initial gas molecules in an electron beam plasma and fast convective transfer of the radicals to a substrate by means of a supersonic free jet. Nanocrystalline, microcrystalline and polycrystalline Si film growth on different foreign substrates is investigated using morphological and optical analyses in dependence on the temperature of the substrate and its distance from the nozzle. It is shown that a middle range of substrate distance is required to avoid crystallinity damage by heavy ions while still keeping their effect on grain nucleation. In this case, well shaped crystalline grains embedded with a ‘highly ordered’ amorphous phase are found in Si films grown at a low temperature at the edge of crystalline growth.

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Thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cell on ceramics with a seeding layer formed via aluminium-induced crystallisation of amorphous silicon
Author(s): C. Ornaghi, M. Stöger, G. Beaucarne, J. Poortmans, P. Schattschneider
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 287 - 292
Type: Article
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Thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells on foreign substrates are viewed as one of the most promising approaches to cost reduction in photovoltaics. To enhance the quality of the film, the use of ‘seeding layers’ prior to deposition of active material is being investigated. It has been shown that a phenomenon suitable to create such a seeding layer is the aluminium-induced crystallisation of amorphous silicon. Previous work mainly considered glass as the substrate of choice, thereby introducing limitations on the deposition temperature. Results concerning the application of such a technique to ceramic substrates (allowing the use of high-temperature CVD) are described. Also, the first reported results of a solar cell made in silicon deposited on these seeding layers are presented.

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1/f noise in hydrogenated amorphous silicon–germanium alloys
Author(s): R.E. Johanson, M. Günes, S.O. Kasap
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 345 - 349
Type: Article
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Measurements were made of conductance noise of a-Si:H and a-Si1−xGex:H in two different geometries: one where the current flow is transverse to the surface and the other where it is longitudinal to the surface. Because of the large change in sample resistance between the two geometries, it was not possible to measure both geometries at the same temperature. For both geometries, alloying with up to 40% Ge reduces the noise magnitude by several orders of magnitude over that found in a-Si:H. The decrease is incompatible with several popular noise models. Extrapolating the temperature trends for each geometry shows that it is possible that the noise observed in the transverse samples has the same origin as the higher frequency part of the double power law spectra observed in the longitudinal samples.

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Microcrystalline Si:H solar cells fabricated using ECR plasma deposition
Author(s): V.L. Dalal, J.H. Zhu, M. Welsh, M. Noack
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 316 - 321
Type: Article
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The properties of microcrystalline Si:H materials and solar cells fabricated using remote, low pressure ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma deposition are described. p+nn+ junction solar cells were deposited at 275–325°C on stainless steel substrates using mixtures of silane and hydrogen. Microcrystalline layers and solar cells could be produced even for low dilution ratio of hydrogen/silane of 8:1. It was found that once crystallisation started, one could decrease the hydrogen/silane ratio and still obtain microcrystalline Si:H solar cells. The voltage of the solar cells could be improved by tailoring the interface between p+ and n layers. An amorphous interfacial layer improved the voltage. A thin amorphous Si:H layer at the back, between n+ and n layers was used to significantly reduce the shunt resistance. Standard device analyses, including dark I(V) curves and capacitance measured at several frequencies, revealed that device characteristics could be understood in terms of a standard Si diode model. The doping densities in the n layer were found to be in the 1×1015 to 2×1016/cm3 range and could be adjusted by altering the amount of compensatory B doping of the layer. The influence of the addition of He dilution to the mixture was also studied, and it was found that He degraded the crystallinity, though it increased the growth rate and open-circuit voltage.

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Thin film silicon materials and solar cells grown by pulsed PECVD technique
Author(s): U. Das, S. Morrison, E. Centurioni, A. Madan
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 282 - 286
Type: Article
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Pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) involves modulation of standard 13.56 MHz RF plasma in the kilohertz range. This allows an increase in the electron density during the ‘ON’ cycle, while in the ‘OFF’ cycle, neutralising the ions responsible for dust formation in the plasma. The authors report the development of state-of-the-art nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si:H) materials using a pulsed PECVD technique with 220 crystallite orientation, grain size of ∼200 Å, low O concentration and a minority carrier diffusion length Ld of ∼1.2 μm. The crucial effects of the p/i interface and the incubation layer have been investigated and an efficiency of ∼7.5% for a single junction nc-Si:H p-i-n device has been achieved for an i-layer thickness of 1.4 μm, using non-optimised textured substrates.

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Stability of microcrystalline silicon for thin film solar cell applications
Author(s): F. Finger, R. Carius, T. Dylla, S. Klein, S. Okur, M. Günes
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 300 - 308
Type: Article
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The development of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) for solar cells has made good progress with efficiencies better than those of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) devices. Of particular interest is the absence of light-induced degradation in highly crystalline μc-Si:H. However, the highest efficiencies are obtained with material which may still include a-Si:H regions and light-induced changes may be expected in such material. On the other hand, material of high crystallinity is susceptible to in-diffusion of atmospheric gases which, through adsorption or oxidation, affect the electronic transport. Investigations are presented of such effects concerning the stability of μc-Si:H films and solar cells prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition and hot wire chemical vapour deposition.

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Recombination in silicon thin-film solar cells: a study of electrically detected magnetic resonance
Author(s): K. Lips, C. Boehme, W. Fuhs
Source: IEE Proceedings - Circuits, Devices and Systems, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2003 , p. 309 - 315
Type: Article
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A review of recombination in silicon thin-film solar cells studied by means of electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) is presented. It is shown that the EDMR results in μc-Si:H p-i-n solar cells can be described by a simple diffusion model that was developed for crystalline silicon p-n junctions assuming that recombination is dominated by dangling bonds in the space charge region. The results are compared to a-Si:H p-i-n cells and discussed in a recombination model involving the excited states of charged dangling bonds.

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Progress in research into mixed group-V nitride alloys
Author(s): M. Kondow, T. Kitatani
Source: IEE Proceedings - Optoelectronics, Volume 150, Issue 1, 2003 , p. 9 - 11
Type: Article
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Mixed group-V nitride alloys, also known as III–N–V alloys, such as GaNP, GaNAs and GaInNAs, are novel semiconductor materials that were not developed until the 1990s. Their unusual physical properties, such as huge degrees of bandgap bowing, make them applicable as the bases of devices providing superior performance. These materials have been applied in laser diodes, solar cells, and heterojunction bipolar transistors. The authors present a historical review of research into III–N–V alloys from its beginnings, with a particular focus on the application of the materials to optoelectronics.

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