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Analyses and Excess Oxygen Investigations by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy and Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy at AlO x /Si Interfaces in Passivated Emitter and Rear Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Naumann Volker,
Schütze Matthias,
Hähnel Angelika,
Lange Stefan,
Müller Alexander,
Hagendorf Christian
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.202100223
Subject(s) - passivation , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , scanning transmission electron microscopy , common emitter , spectroscopy , scanning electron microscope , solar cell , silicon , electron energy loss spectroscopy , analytical chemistry (journal) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , chemistry , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics , chromatography , engineering
Progressive optimization of the surface passivation of Si solar cells requires access to the elemental composition and chemical bonding characteristics of ultrathin layers and buried interfaces on textured or structured surfaces. The passivation of the rear side of passivated emitter and rear solar cells, for instance, can be realized through AlO x /SiN x stacks, which are known to provide an additional field effect passivation on top of the chemical surface passivation. Herein, transmission electron microscopy is used at locally prepared cross‐sections of such stacks. Electron energy loss spectroscopy is used to extract depth‐resolved information of elemental composition and chemical bonding at nanometer scale. With this, the interfacial excess O fraction, which is crucial for the field effect passivation, is successfully determined for the first time for AlO x passivation layer systems on industrially produced Si solar cells.