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Laser‐fired contact for n‐type crystalline Si solar cells
Author(s) -
He Jianbo,
Hegedus Steven,
Das Ujjwal,
Shu Zhan,
Bennett Murray,
Zhang Lei,
Birkmire Robert
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.2520
Subject(s) - crystalline silicon , materials science , contact resistance , silicon , laser , optoelectronics , lasing threshold , silicon nitride , solar cell , amorphous silicon , heterojunction , amorphous solid , optics , nanotechnology , crystallography , chemistry , layer (electronics) , wavelength , physics
Laser‐fired contacts to n‐type crystalline silicon were developed by investigating novel metal stacks containing Antimony (Sb). Lasing conditions and the structure of metals stacks were optimized for lowest contact resistance and minimum surface damage. Specific contact resistance for firing different metal stacks through either silicon nitride or p‐type amorphous silicon was determined using two different models and test structures. Specific contact resistance values of 2–7 mΩcm 2 have been achieved. Recombination loss due to laser damage was consistent with an extracted local surface recombination velocity of ~20 000 cm/s, which is similar to values for laser‐fired base contact for p‐type crystalline silicon. Interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction cells were fabricated with laser‐fired base contact and proof‐of‐concept efficiencies of 16.9% were achieved. This localized base contact technique will enable low cost back contact patterning and innovative designs for n‐type crystalline solar cell. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.