Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD

Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and ApplicationsVolume 13, Issue 7 p. 551-569 Research Bulk and surface passivation of silicon solar cells accomplished by silicon nitride deposited on industrial scale by microwave PECVD Wim Soppe, Corresponding Author Wim Soppe [email protected] Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsEnergy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), PO Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands.===Search for more papers by this authorHenk Rieffe, Henk Rieffe Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this authorArthur Weeber, Arthur Weeber Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author Wim Soppe, Corresponding Author Wim Soppe [email protected] Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsEnergy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), PO Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands.===Search for more papers by this authorHenk Rieffe, Henk Rieffe Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this authorArthur Weeber, Arthur Weeber Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, ECN, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 April 2005 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.611Citations: 127AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Bulk and surface passivation by silicon nitride has become an indispensable element in industrial production of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells. Microwave PECVD is a very effective method for high-throughput deposition of silicon nitride layers with the required properties for bulk and surface passivation. In this paper an analysis is presented of the relation between deposition parameters of microwave PECVD and material properties of silicon nitride. By tuning the process conditions (substrate temperature, gas flows, working pressure) we have been able to fabricate silicon nitride layers which fulfill almost ideally the four major requirements for mc-Si solar cells: (1) good anti-reflection coating (refractive index tunable between 2·0 and 2·3); (2) good surface passivation on p-type FZ wafers (Seff<30 cm/s); (3) good bulk passivation (improvement of IQE at 1000 nm by 30% after short thermal anneal); (4) long-term stability (no observable degradation after several years of exposure to sunlight). By implementing this silicon nitride deposition in an inline production process of mc-Si solar cells we have been able to produce cells with an efficiency of 16·5%. Finally, we established that the continuous deposition process could be maintained for at least 20 h without interruption for maintenance. On this timescale we did not observe any significant changes in layer properties or cell properties. 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Citing Literature Volume13, Issue7November 2005Pages 551-569 ReferencesRelatedInformation