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Simulation of an efficient silicon heterostructure solar cell concept featuring molybdenum oxide carrier‐selective contact
Author(s) -
Mehmood Haris,
Nasser Hisham,
Tauqeer Tauseef,
Hussain Shahzad,
Ozkol Engin,
Turan Raşit
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.3947
Subject(s) - heterojunction , solar cell , optoelectronics , schottky barrier , materials science , silicon , work function , charge carrier , equivalent series resistance , carrier lifetime , band bending , nanotechnology , electronic engineering , electrical engineering , layer (electronics) , diode , engineering , voltage
Summary Transition metal oxides/silicon heterocontact solar cells are the subject of intense research efforts owing to their simpler processing steps and reduced parasitic absorption as compared with the traditional silicon heterostructure counterparts. Recently, molybdenum oxide (MoO x , x < 3) has emerged as an integral transition metal oxide for crystalline silicon (cSi)‐based solar cell based on carrier‐selective contacts (CSCs). In this paper, we physically modelled the CSC‐based cSi solar cell featuring MoO x /intrinsic a‐Si:H/n‐type cSi/intrinsic a‐Si:H/n + ‐type a‐Si:H for the first time using Silvaco technology computer‐aided design simulator. To analyse the optical and electrical properties of the proposed solar cell, several technological parameters such as work function and thickness of MoO x contact layer, intrinsic a‐Si:H band gap, interface recombination, series resistance, and temperature coefficient have been evaluated. It has been shown that higher work function of MoO x induces the formation of a favourable Schottky barrier height as well as an inversion at the front interface, stimulating least resistive path for holes. Utilising thinner MoO x layer implies reduced tunnelling of minority charge carriers, thus enabling the device to numerically attain 25.33% efficiency. With an optimised interface recombination velocity and reduced parasitic absorption, the proposed device exhibited higher V oc of 752 mV, J sc of 38.8 mA/cm 2 , fill‐factor of 79.0%, and an efficiency of 25.6%, which can be termed as the harbinger for industrial production of next‐generation efficient solar cell technology.