Katsuaki Momiyama

Carrier mobility measurement across a single grain boundary in polycrystalline silicon using an organic gate thin-film transistor

In this study, we developed a measurement method for field-effect-carrier mobility across a single grain boundary in polycrystalline Si (poly Si) used for solar cell production by using an organic gate field-effect transistor (FET). To prevent precipitation and the diffusion of impurities affecting the electronic characteristics of the grain boundary, all the processing temperatures during FET fabrication were held below 150 °C. From the grain boundary, the field-effect mobility was measured at around 21.4 cm2/Vs at 297 K, and the temperature dependence of the field-effect mobility suggested the presence of a potential barrier of 0.22 eV at the boundary. The technique presented here is applicable for the monitoring of carrier conduction characteristics at the grain boundary in poly Si used for the production of solar cells.

An optimization algorithm for designing robust and simple antireflection films for organic photovoltaic cells

We propose an optimization algorithm to design multilayer antireflection (AR) structure, which has robustness against variations in layer thicknesses, for organic photovoltaic cells. When a set of available materials are given, the proposed method searches for the material and thickness of each AR layer to maximize the short-circuit current density (Jsc). This algorithm allows for obtaining a set of solutions, including optimal and quasi-optimal solutions, at the same time, so that we can clearly make comparison between them. In addition, the effects of deviations in the thicknesses of the AR layers are examined for the (quasi-)optimal solutions obtained. The expectation of the decrease in the AR performance is estimated by calculating the changes in Jsc when the thicknesses of all AR layers are varied independently. We show that some of quasi-optimal solutions may have simpler layer configuration and can be more robust against the deviations in film thicknesses, than the optimal solution. This method indicates the importance of actively searching valuable, nonoptimal solutions for practical design of AR films. We also discuss the optical conditions that lead to light absorption in the back metal contact and the effects of changing active layer thicknesses.