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Amorphous silicon
About: Amorphous silicon is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26777 publications have been published within this topic receiving 423234 citations.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the specific damage energy density for crystalline to amorphous transition has been determined to be 6.0×1023 eV/cm3 at 4 K with no annealing.
Abstract: Atomic structure of ion implantation damage and the process of amorphization in silicon have been investigated using high‐resolution electron microscopy techniques. The specific damage energy density for crystalline to amorphous transition has been determined to be 6.0×1023 eV/cm3 or 12 eV/atom at 4 K with no annealing. The amorphous regions are produced when the damage energy deposited by the ions exceeds this critical value. Since the damage energy deposited by the ions is a strong function of ion implantation and substrate variables, the formation of amorphous regions and the process of amorphization are strong functions of these variables. The details of atomic structures of amorphous silicon containing microcrystallites and that of amorphous‐crystalline interfaces are presented. The calculations of the mean‐free path between collisions and the energy deposited per atom are found to be consistent with experimental observations on amorphization of silicon. Some results on the projected ranges of low‐en...
77 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a spin-pairing mechanism for defect centers in amorphous silicon is proposed and discussed in terms of simple chemical bond arguments, and the mechanism is shown to work well in the case of chalcogenide glasses.
Abstract: A novel mechanism for spin-pairing at defect centres in amorphous silicon is proposed and discussed in terms of simple chemical bond arguments. Unlike the case of chalcogenide glasses (or amorphous...
77 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the Schottky barrier at the TCO/a/Si:H interfaces was investigated combining kinetic ellipsometry and Kelvin probe measurements, and it was shown that the correlation between both in situ techniques allowed a detailed description of the optoelectronic behavior of these interfaces.
Abstract: Transparent conducting oxide (TCO)/hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) interfaces are investigated combining kinetic ellipsometry and Kelvin probe measurements. It is shown that the correlation between both in situ techniques allows a detailed description of the optoelectronic behavior of these interfaces. The Schottky barrier at the TCO/a/Si:H interfaces, as revealed by Kelvin probe measurements, is correlated with the chemical reduction of the TCO surface during the early stage of a:Si:H growth, as evidenced by kinetic ellipsometry. In particular, indium tin oxide (ITO) and SnO2 are found to be reduced by the silane plasma at 250 °C. On the countrary, ZnO is found highly resistant upon plasma reduction. The influence of the substrate temperature during a‐Si:H deposition is analyzed. Finally, the technical consequences of this study are outlined.
77 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a rear passivation scheme based on doped amorphous silicon carbide was investigated, which results in excellent surface passivation and, at the same time, acts as a doping source.
Abstract: n-Type solar cells with passivated rear surface and point contacts have been proven to have an enormous efficiency potential. However, an industrially feasible process for the realization of the passivated locally contacted rear side of this solar cell type is still missing. Therefore, a rear passivation scheme based on doped amorphous silicon carbide was investigated. The newly developed PassDop layer results in excellent surface passivation and, at the same time, acts as a doping source. After the PECVD of the PassDop layer, contact points are locally opened by a laser pulse, and simultaneously, a local back surface field is formed using the phosphorus contained in the layer. In the last step, the rear side is contacted by the evaporation of aluminum. Due to the very effective passivation of the rear side by the doped passivation layer as well as the excellent contact formation by the laser process, the best cell (aperture area of 4 cm2) exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 701 mV and a fill factor of 80.1%, resulting in a confirmed solar cell efficiency of 22.4%.
77 citations
Patent•
27 Nov 2002TL;DR: In this article, a photovoltaic device consisting of an amorphous silicon thin film and a p-type amorphized silicon thin layer is presented, where an i-type polysilicon film is formed after the front surface of the single crystalline silicon substrate is exposed to a plasma discharge using mixed gas of hydrogen gas and a gas containing boron so that atoms of bboron may be interposed on an interface between the single silicon substrate and the i-types silicon layer.
Abstract: A photovoltaic device having a crystalline semiconductor and an amorphous semiconductor thin film so that junction characteristics can be upgraded. The photovoltaic device includes an i-type amorphous silicon thin film and a p-type amorphous silicon thin layer laminated in this order on a front surface of an n-type single crystalline silicon substrate, and an i-type amorphous silicon layer and an n-type amorphous silicon layer laminated in this order on a rear surface of the single crystalline silicon substrate, wherein an i-type amorphous silicon film is formed after the front surface of the single crystalline silicon substrate is exposed to a plasma discharge using mixed gas of hydrogen gas and a gas containing boron so that atoms of boron may be interposed on an interface between the single crystalline silicon substrate and the i-type amorphous silicon layer.
77 citations