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The “Micromorph” Cell: a New Way to High-Efficiency-Low-Temperature Crystalline Silicon Thin-Film Cell Manufacturing?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

H. Keppner ,
P. Torres ,
J. Meier ,
R. Platz ,
D. Fischer ,
U. Kroll ,
S. Dubail ,
J. A. Anna Selvan ,
N. Pellaton Vaucher  and
Y. Ziegler
...Show all authors
H. Keppner
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
P. Torres
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
J. Meier
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
R. Platz
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
D. Fischer
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
U. Kroll
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
S. Dubail
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
J. A. Anna Selvan
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
N. Pellaton Vaucher
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Y. Ziegler
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
R. Tscharner
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Ch. Hof
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
N. Beck
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
M. Goetz
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
P. Pernet
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
M. Goerlitzer
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
N. Wyrsch
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
J. Veuille
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
J. Cuperus
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
A. Shah
Affiliation:
Institut de Microtechnique, A.-L. Breguet 2, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
J. Pohl
Affiliation:
University of Konstanz, D-78434 Konstanz, Germany
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Abstract

In the past, microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) has been successfully used as active semiconductor in entirely μc-Si:H p-i-n solar cells and a new type of tandem solar cell, called the “micromorph” cell, was introduced [1]. Micromorph cells consist of an amorphous silicon top cell and a microcrystalline bottom cell. In the paper a micromorph cell with a stable efficiency of 10.7 % (confirmed by ISE Freiburg) is reported.

Among sofar existing crystalline silicon-based solar cell manufacturing techniques, the application of microcrystalline silicon is a new promising way towards implementing thin-film silicon solar cells with a low temperature deposition. Microcrystalline silicon can, indeed, be deposited at temperatures as low as 220°C; hence, the way is here open to use cheap substrates as, e.g. plastic or glass. In the present paper, the development of single and tandem cells containing microcrystalline silicon is reviewed. As stated in previous publications, microcrystalline silicon technique has at present a severe drawback that has yet to be overcome: Its deposition rate for solar-grade material is about 2Å/s; in a more recent case 4.3 Å/s [2] could be obtained. In the present paper, using suitable mixtures of silane, hydrogen and argon, deposition rates of 9.4 Å/s are presented. Thereby the dominating plasma mechanism and the basic properties of resulting layers are described in detail. A first entirely microcrystalline cell deposited at 8.7 Å/s has an efficiency of 3.15%.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 452 , 1996 , 865
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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