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Hydrogen Passivation of Defects in Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Michael Stavola ,
Fan Jiang ,
Suppawan Kleekajai ,
Lanlin Wen ,
Chao Peng ,
Vijay Yelundur ,
Ajeet Rohatgi ,
Giso Hahn ,
Lode Carnel  and
Juris Kalejs
Michael Stavola
Affiliation:
mjsa@Lehigh.edu, Lehigh University, Physics, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Fan Jiang
Affiliation:
fjiang04@gmail.com, Lehigh University, Physics, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Suppawan Kleekajai
Affiliation:
sarah.kleekajai@gmail.com, Lehigh University, Physics, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Lanlin Wen
Affiliation:
law305@Lehigh.edu, Lehigh University, Physics, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Chao Peng
Affiliation:
chp205@Lehigh.edu, Lehigh University, Physics, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Vijay Yelundur
Affiliation:
vyelundur@suniva.com, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Ajeet Rohatgi
Affiliation:
ajeet.rohatgi@ece.gatech.edu, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Giso Hahn
Affiliation:
Giso.Hahn@uni-konstanz.de, University of Konstanz, Physics, Konstanz, Germany
Lode Carnel
Affiliation:
Lode.Carnel@recgroup.com, REC Wafer AS, Porsgrunn, Norway
Juris Kalejs
Affiliation:
jpkalejs1@aol.com, American Capital Energy, N. Chelmsford, Massachusetts, United States
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Abstract

Hydrogen is commonly introduced into silicon solar cells to reduce the deleterious effects of defects and to increase cell efficiency. We have developed strategies by which hydrogen in silicon can be detected by IR spectroscopy with high sensitivity. The introduction of hydrogen into Si by the post-deposition annealing of a hydrogen-rich, SiNx coating has been investigated to determine hydrogen's concentration and penetration depth. Different hydrogenation processes were studied so that their effectiveness for the passivation of bulk defects could be compared. The best conditions investigated in our experiments yielded a hydrogen concentration near 1015 cm-3 and a diffusion depth consistent with the diffusivity of H found by Van Wieringen and Warmoltz.

Keywords

Hinfrared (IR) spectroscopySi
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1210: Symposium Q – Photovoltaic Materials and Manufacturing Issues II , 2009 , 1210-Q01-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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