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Comparison of thin epitaxial film silicon photovoltaics fabricated on monocrystalline and polycrystalline seed layers on glass
Author(s) -
Teplin Charles W.,
Grover Sachit,
Chitu Adrian,
Limanov Alexander,
Chahal Monical,
Im James,
Amkreutz Daniel,
Gall Stefan,
Yoon Heayoung P.,
Lasalvia Vincenzo,
Stradins Paul,
Jones Kim M.,
Norman Andrew G.,
Young David L.,
Branz Howard M.,
Lee Benjamin G.
Publication year - 2015
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.2505
Subject(s) - monocrystalline silicon , materials science , polycrystalline silicon , silicon , epitaxy , amorphous silicon , optoelectronics , nanocrystalline silicon , grain boundary , layer (electronics) , crystallite , crystallization , amorphous solid , thin film , crystalline silicon , nanotechnology , composite material , crystallography , chemical engineering , microstructure , metallurgy , thin film transistor , chemistry , engineering
We fabricate thin epitaxial crystal silicon solar cells on display glass and fused silica substrates overcoated with a silicon seed layer. To confirm the quality of hot‐wire chemical vapor deposition epitaxy, we grow a 2‐µm‐thick absorber on a (100) monocrystalline Si layer transfer seed on display glass and achieve 6.5% efficiency with an open circuit voltage (V OC ) of 586 mV without light‐trapping features. This device enables the evaluation of seed layers on display glass. Using polycrystalline seeds formed from amorphous silicon by laser‐induced mixed phase solidification (MPS) and electron beam crystallization, we demonstrate 2.9%, 476 mV (MPS) and 4.1%, 551 mV (electron beam crystallization) solar cells. Grain boundaries likely limit the solar cell grown on the MPS seed layer, and we establish an upper bound for the grain boundary recombination velocity ( S GB ) of 1.6x10 4 cm/s. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.