Premium
Role of hydrogen in the surface passivation of crystalline silicon by sputtered aluminum oxide
Author(s) -
Li TsuTsung Andrew,
Cuevas Andres
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.1031
Subject(s) - passivation , silicon , materials science , layer (electronics) , aluminium , oxide , wafer , sputtering , deposition (geology) , aluminum oxide , hydrogen , oxide thin film transistor , sputter deposition , metallurgy , inorganic chemistry , optoelectronics , thin film , nanotechnology , chemistry , thin film transistor , paleontology , organic chemistry , sediment , biology
Aluminum oxide films can provide excellent surface passivation on both p‐type and n‐type surfaces of silicon wafers and solar cells. Even though radio frequency magnetron sputtering is capable of depositing aluminum oxide with concentrations of negative charges comparable to some of the other deposition methods, the surface passivation has not been as good. In this paper, we compare the composition and bonding of aluminum oxide deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition and sputtering, and find that the interfacial silicon oxide layer and hydrogen concentration can explain the differences in the surface passivation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.