Premium
High‐temperature diffusion barriers from Si‐rich silicon‐nitride
Author(s) -
Bilger G.,
Voss T.,
Schlenker T.,
Strohm A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.2396
Subject(s) - diffusion , materials science , silicon nitride , amorphous solid , silicon , nitride , thermal diffusivity , substrate (aquarium) , diffusion process , thin film , layer (electronics) , analytical chemistry (journal) , crystallography , metallurgy , nanotechnology , chemistry , thermodynamics , knowledge management , physics , oceanography , innovation diffusion , chromatography , geology , computer science
By radiotracer diffusion experiments, it is shown that the 31 Si diffusivity in Si‐rich nonstoichiometric amorphous silicon‐nitride layers (Si 3+ x N 4− x ) sharply drops to low values at a temperature of 1075 °C and is unmeasurable at lower temperatures. A similar behavior was found for Au and Ge diffusion in Si 3+ x N 4− x , however, at lower temperatures. Utilizing this diffusion‐blocking effect, thin films of Si 3+ x N 4− x were employed as efficient diffusion barriers for preventing the diffusion of Fe and other constituents from a steel substrate into a Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 absorber layer of a thin‐film solar cell. The reduced diffusion consequently allows the employment of higher process temperatures, which can lead to larger grains and an improved cell performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.