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Photo‐Electrical Characterization of Silicon Micropillar Arrays with Radial p/n Junctions Containing Passivation and Anti‐Reflection Coatings
Author(s) -
Vijselaar Wouter,
Elbersen Rick,
Tiggelaar Roald M.,
Gardeniers Han,
Huskens Jurriaan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201601497
Subject(s) - passivation , materials science , silicon , optoelectronics , silicon nitride , layer (electronics) , atomic layer deposition , chemical vapor deposition , silicon dioxide , silicon oxide , indium tin oxide , nanotechnology , composite material
In order to assess the contributions of anti‐reflective and passivation effects in microstructured silicon‐based solar light harvesting devices, thin layers of aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), silicon‐rich silicon nitride (SiN x ), and indium tin oxide (ITO), with a thickness ranging from 45 to 155 nm, are deposited onto regularly packed arrays of silicon micropillars with radial p/n junctions. Atomic layer deposition of Al 2 O 3 yields the best conformal coating over the micropillars. The fact that layers made by low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition (SiO 2 and SiN x ) are not conformally deposited on the sidewalls of the Si micropillars do not influence the photoelectrical efficiency. For ITO, a change in composition along the micropillar height is measured, which leads to poor performance. For Al 2 O 3 , deconvolution of the contributions of passivation and anti‐reflection to the overall efficiency gain exhibits the importance of passivation in micro/nano‐structured Si devices. Al 2 O 3 ‐coated samples perform the best, for both n/p and p/n configured pillars, yielding (relative) increases of 116% and 37% in efficiency of coated versus non‐coated samples for p‐type and n‐type base micropillar arrays, respectively.