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Investigation Of Efficiency Improvement on Silicon Solar Cells Due to Porous Layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

Gregory Sun ,
Yuxin Li ,
Yicheng Lu ,
Babar Khan  and
Gary S. Tompa
Gregory Sun
Affiliation:
Engineering Program, University of Massachusetts at Boston, Boston, MA 02125
Yuxin Li
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855
Yicheng Lu
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855
Babar Khan
Affiliation:
Philips Laboratories, 345 Scarborough Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 01510
Gary S. Tompa
Affiliation:
Structured Materials Industries, Inc., 120 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854
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Abstract

Observation of light emission from porous Si has demonstrated that the optical properties of Si can be drastically altered by the quantum size effects. We have investigated the improvement of absorption properties of Si material by forming a porous Si layer. Shallow-junction commercial crystalline as well as polycrystalline Si solar cells without anti-reflective coatings have been processed into porous Si solar cells by a wet chemical etching technique. Our best results have demonstrated more than 15% improvement in short-circuit current with no change in open-circuit voltage. The performance of the porous Si solar cells has been found to be sensitive to the porous layer thickness. The efficiency can be reduced when the porous layer is relatively deep, presumably due to the penetration of pores through the shallow junction. We believe porous Si can be optimized for photovoltaic applications by properly controlling its porosity and thickness.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 358: Symposium F – Microcrystalline and Nanocrystalline Semiconductors , 1994 , 593
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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