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Effects of ( i )a‐Si:H deposition temperature on high‐efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells
Author(s) -
Zhao Yifeng,
Procel Paul,
Smets Arno,
Mazzarella Luana,
Han Can,
Yang Guangtao,
Cao Liqi,
Yao Zhirong,
Weeber Arthur,
Zeman Miro,
Isabella Olindo
Publication year - 2023
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.3620
Subject(s) - passivation , materials science , heterojunction , solar cell , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , silicon , deposition (geology) , analytical chemistry (journal) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , chemistry , environmental chemistry , paleontology , sediment , engineering , biology
Excellent surface passivation induced by ( i )a‐Si:H is critical to achieve high‐efficiency silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. This is key for conventional single‐junction cell applications but also for bottom cell application in tandem devices. In this study, we investigated the effects of ( i )a‐Si:H deposition temperature on passivation quality and SHJ solar cell performance. At the lower end of temperatures ranging from 140°C to 200°C, it was observed with Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) that ( i )a‐Si:H films are less dense, thus hindering their surface passivation capabilities. However, with additional hydrogen plasma treatments (HPTs), those ( i )a‐Si:H layers deposited at lower temperatures exhibited significant improvements and better passivation qualities than their counterparts deposited at higher temperatures. On the other hand, even though we observed the highest V OC s for cells with ( i )a‐Si:H deposited at the lowest temperature (140°C), the related FFs are poorer as compared to their higher temperature counterparts. The optimum trade‐off between V OC and FF for the SHJ cells was found with temperatures ranging from 160°C to 180°C, which delivered independently certified efficiencies of 23.71%. With a further improved p ‐layer that enables a FF of 83.3%, an efficiency of 24.18% was achieved. Thus, our study reveals two critical requirements for optimizing the ( i )a‐Si:H layers in high‐efficiency SHJ solar cells: (i) excellent surface passivation quality to reduce losses induced by interface recombination and simultaneously (ii) less‐defective ( i )a‐Si:H bulk to not disrupt the charge carrier collections.