Premium
Contacting a single nanometer‐sized pinhole in the interfacial oxide of a poly‐silicon on oxide (POLO) solar cell junction
Author(s) -
Bayerl Paul,
Folchert Nils,
Bayer Johannes,
Dzinnik Marvin,
Hollemann Christina,
Brendel Rolf,
Peibst Robby,
Haug Rolf J.
Publication year - 2021
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.3417
Subject(s) - pinhole (optics) , materials science , oxide , nanometre , quantum tunnelling , current density , optoelectronics , voltage , noise (video) , silicon , silicon oxide , analytical chemistry (journal) , optics , electrical engineering , composite material , chemistry , physics , image (mathematics) , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , metallurgy , engineering , silicon nitride , chromatography
The electrical current through poly‐Si on oxide (POLO) solar cells is mediated by tunneling and by nanometer‐sized pinholes in the interfacial oxide. To distinguish the two processes, a POLO junction with a measured pinhole density of 1 × 10 7 cm −2 is contacted by different contact areas ranging from 1 μm 2 to 2.5 × 10 5 μm 2 , and the temperature‐dependent current–voltage curves are measured for the different devices. Model regressions to the measured curves, their temperature dependence, and the quantized value of contact resistances indicate average numbers of pinholes per device corresponding to the expected pinhole density. For the small contacts, the different transport processes can be studied separately, which facilitates further improvements in respect to the present‐day POLO junctions. Single‐pinhole transport is found for one of the contacts with an area of 1 μm 2 . Random telegraph noise observed for this device in the current–voltage characteristics shows a high sensitivity to single charges.