Improved interface passivation by optimizing a polysilicon film under different hydrogen dilution in N-type TOPCon silicon solar cells

The passivation properties of a polysilicon (poly-Si) thin film are the key for improving the photovoltaic performance of TOPCon silicon solar cells. In this work, we investigate the influence of the poly-Si microstructure on the interface passivation and photovoltaic performance in TOPCon solar cells. The poly-Si thin films are prepared from phosphorus-doped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) layers deposited via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) under different hydrogen dilutions and recrystallized by high temperature post-deposition annealing. The results revealed that, as the hydrogen dilution ratio increases, the microstructure of the pre-deposited films transforms from an amorphous phase to a microcrystalline phase. Meanwhile, the effective minority carrier lifetime of the symmetrically passivated contact structure shows a maximum value of 1.75 ms, implying that the efficient passivation at the c-Si interface is obtained which is mainly attributed to the joint enhancement of the improved field effect passivation from poly-Si films and the reduced defects density on the silicon surface. Consequently, the devices displayed excellent rectification behavior with a rectifying ratio of 3 × 105, ascribed to the enhanced carrier transport with the high quality poly-Si film pre-deposited in the initial region of structural transition. Correspondingly, the obvious improvement of TOPCon solar cell performance was achieved, exhibiting an optimized conversion efficiency of 17.91%. The results provide an optimal design scheme for enhancing the photovoltaic properties of the TOPCon silicon solar cells.