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Atomic Layer Deposition of Vanadium Oxide as Hole‐Selective Contact for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Yang Xinbo,
Xu Hang,
Liu Wenzhu,
Bi Qunyu,
Xu Lujia,
Kang Jingxuan,
Hedhili Mohamed N.,
Sun Baoquan,
Zhang Xiaohong,
De Wolf Stefaan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced electronic materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.25
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 2199-160X
DOI - 10.1002/aelm.202000467
Subject(s) - materials science , atomic layer deposition , passivation , silicon , crystalline silicon , work function , optoelectronics , vanadium oxide , nanotechnology , energy conversion efficiency , vanadium , dopant , layer (electronics) , solar cell , doping , metallurgy
High carrier recombination loss at the contact regions has become the dominant factor limiting the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of crystalline silicon ( c ‐Si) solar cells. Dopant‐free carrier‐selective contacts are being intensively developed to overcome this challenge. In this work, vanadium oxide (VO x ) deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is investigated and optimized as a potential hole‐selective contact for c ‐Si solar cells. ALD VO x films are demonstrated to simultaneously offer a good surface passivation and an acceptable contact resistivity (ρ c ) on c ‐Si, achieving a best contact recombination current density ( J 0 ) of ≈40 fA cm −2 and a minimum ρ c of ≈95 mΩ.cm 2 . Combined with a high work function of 6.0 eV, ALD VO x films are proven to be an effective hole‐selective contact on c ‐Si. By the implementation of hole‐selective VO x contact, the state‐of‐the‐art PCE of 21.6% on n ‐type c ‐Si solar cells with a high stability is demonstarted. These results demonstrate the high potential of ALD VO x as a stable hole‐transport layer for photovoltaic devices, with applications beyond c ‐Si, such as perovskite and organic solar cells.