B. Strahm

Improved amorphous/crystalline silicon interface passivation by hydrogen plasma treatment

Silicon heterojunction solar cells have high open-circuit voltages thanks to excellent passivation of the wafer surfaces by thin intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We show a dramatic improvement in passivation when H2 plasma treatments are used during film deposition. Although the bulk of the a-Si:H layers is slightly more disordered after H2 treatment, the hydrogenation of the wafer/film interface is nevertheless improved with as-deposited layers. Employing H2 treatments, 4 cm2 heterojunction solar cells were produced with industry-compatible processes, yielding open-circuit voltages up to 725 mV and aperture area efficiencies up to 21%.

Fast equilibration of silane/hydrogen plasmas in large area RF capacitive reactors monitored by optical emission spectroscopy

The optimal plasma parameters for plasma processing, such as deposition of microcrystalline silicon from silane and hydrogen, are generally chosen in steady-state discharge conditions. However, this steady state must be reached in a short time after plasma ignition to avoid significant film deposition in non-optimal conditions during the plasma transient phase.Simple and inexpensive time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy has been used to measure the plasma time evolution from ignition to steady-state conditions in a large area RF capacitive plasma reactor. Absolute values of silane and hydrogen molecular number densities, relative values of electron density, and qualitative information on electron temperature were obtained without the need for absolute intensity calibration. Apart from the experimental verification of constant electron temperature, the particular condition here is that the emission intensities should be followed from the instant of ignition, since the molecular densities are known at this instant.A plasma model for the reactor, and a dispersive axial flow model for the pumping line, were used to show why the plasma chemistry in a well-designed large area reactor generally reaches steady-state conditions in less than one second. The optimal design for fast equilibration is a closed, directly-pumped showerhead reactor with a uniform plasma which fills the whole reactor volume.

Optimization of the microcrystalline silicon deposition efficiency

Cost reduction constraints for microcrystalline silicon thin film photovoltaic solar cells require high deposition rates and high silane gas utilization efficiencies. If the requirements in deposition rate have sometimes been fulfilled, it is generally not the case for the silane utilization. In this work, a reactor-independent methodology has been developed to determine the optimum plasma parameters in terms of deposition rate, silane utilization, and material microstructure. Using this optimization method, a microcrystalline layer has been deposited over a large area at a rate of 10.9A∕s, with a silane utilization efficiency above 80%.

Plasma diagnostics as a tool for process optimization: the case of microcrystalline silicon deposition

Reference CRPP-CONF-2007-063 URL: http://www.eps2007.ifpilm.waw.pl/ Record created on 2008-05-13, modified on 2017-05-12

Optical emission spectroscopy to diagnose powder formation in SiH4-H2 discharges

Silane and hydrogen discharges are widely used for the deposition of silicon thin film solar cells in large area plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactors. In the case of microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells, it is of crucial importance to increase the deposition rate in order to reduce the manufacturing costs. This can be performed by using high silane concentration, and usually high RF power and high pressure, all favorable to powder formation in the discharge that generally reduces the deposition rate as well as the deposited material quality. This work presents a study of powder formation using time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy. It is shown that this technique is suitable to detect different regimes in powder formation ranging from powder free discharge to discharge producing large dust particles. Intermediate powder formation regimes include the formation of small silicon clusters at plasma ignition as well as cycle of powder growth and ejection out of the discharge, and both are observable by this low-cost and experimentally simple technique.

Measurements and consequences of nonuniform radio frequency plasma potential due to surface asymmetry in large area radio frequency capacitive reactors

In large area reactors, a local asymmetry of the electrode area, due to lateral grounded walls, causes a perturbation in rf plasma potential, due to the redistribution of lateral rf current, which propagates along the resistive plasma between capacitive sheaths. This perturbation can be described by a telegraph equation, for which a typical damping length can be determined. In this study, the existence of this rf plasma potential perturbation is confirmed using electrostatic surface probe measurements in argon plasma. Furthermore, uniformity analysis of a‐Si:H thin film deposited using silane plasma have shown that this nonuniform rf plasma potential can have a strong effect on the uniformity of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes. It is also shown that this perturbation and its effect on the deposition uniformity can be suppressed by symmetrizing the reactor walls.

High-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells: From physics to production lines

Silicon heterojunction technology (Si-HJT) consists of thin amorphous silicon layers on monocrystalline silicon wafers and allows for photovoltaic solar cells with energy-conversion efficiencies above 20 %, also at industrial-production level. This article reports how this may be achieved. First, we focus on the surface-passivation mechanism of intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon films in such solar cells, enabling record-high values for the open-circuit voltage. Next, the industrial upscaling in large-area reactors of such film deposition is discussed, including the fabrication of solar cells with energy-conversion efficiencies as high as 21%.

Crystallinity Uniformity of Microcrystalline Silicon Thin Films Deposited in Large Area Radio Frequency Capacitively-coupled Reactors

Reference CRPP-CONF-2009-037View record in Web of Science Record created on 2009-01-28, modified on 2017-05-12

Laser-based plasma diagnostics for PECVD of silicon thin films

We present two laser systems to monitor plasma conditions in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition chamber. The first optical system is a high-resolution quantum cascade laser-based infrared absorption spectrometer designed to measure the input silane depletion fraction (dissociation efficiency) and to determine the amorphous-to-microcrystalline silicon transition regime. The second optical system is a compact and low-cost laser light scattering device designed to detect the formation of powder particles. In the absence of such particles, the silane depletion fraction provides an insitu measurement of the film growth rate.

Study of the microstructure transition width from amorphous to microcrystalline silicon as a function of the input silane concentration

Amorphous and microcrystalline silicon have been proven to be very interesting for low cost thin film photovoltaic devices. Usually these two materials are deposited using the same large area plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactors from silane and hydrogen gases. The transition from amorphous deposition regime to microcrystalline deposition regime is generally done by reducing the silane concentration in the input gas flow and the optimum deposition parameters to achieve high performance device stands just at the transition between the two microstructures. In the present work, a study of the transition width from amorphous to microcrystalline silicon is presented as a function of the input silane concentration. It is shown that the higher the input silane concentration, the wider is the microstructure transition. As a consequence, the process is less sensitive to fluctuations of the silane concentration when silane concentrations higher than 10 % are used and better uniformity and reproducibility can be then achieved.