R. Carius

Structural properties of microcrystalline silicon in the transition from highly crystalline to amorphous growth

Abstract The growth of microcrystalline silicon prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition depends on the deposition conditions and yields films with variable content of crystalline grains, amorphous network, grain boundaries and voids. The changes in the structural properties of a series of films grown under a variation of the dilution of the process gas silane in hydrogen, which induces a transition from highly crystalline to amorphous growth, were investigated. The evolution of the crystalline volume fraction was quantitatively analysed by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results confirm the need for proper correction of the Raman data for optical absorption and Raman cross-section. Transmission electron microscopy was used to investigate the characteristics and the variation in the microstructure. Upon increasing the silane concentration the strong columnar growth with narrow grain boundaries degrades towards the growth of small irregularly shaped grains enclosed in an amorpho...

Microcrystalline silicon solar cells deposited at high rates

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells were prepared at high rates by very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition under high working pressure. The influence of deposition parameters on the deposition rate (RD) and the solar cell performance were comprehensively studied in this paper, as well as the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the resulting solar cells. Reactor-geometry adjustment was done to achieve a stable and homogeneous discharge under high pressure. Optimum solar cells are always found close to the transition from microcrystalline to amorphous growth, with a crystallinity of about 60%. At constant silane concentration, an increase in the discharge power did hardly increase the deposition rate, but did increase the crystallinity of the solar cells. This results in a shift of the μc-Si:H∕a-Si:H transition to higher silane concentration, and therefore leads to a higher RD for the optimum cells. On the other hand, an increase in the t...

Improvement of grain size and deposition rate of microcrystalline silicon by use of very high frequency glow discharge

The influence of the plasma excitation frequency on the growth conditions and the material properties of microcrystalline silicon prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low deposition temperature is investigated. It is found that an increase of the plasma excitation frequency leads to a simultaneous increase of the growth rate, the grain size, and the Hall mobility of microcrystalline silicon. This is attributed to an effective selective etching of disordered material creating more space to develop crystalline grains, while also more species for faster growth of the crystallites are available.

Comparison and optimization of randomly textured surfaces in thin-film solar cells

Using rigorous diffraction theory we investigate the scattering properties of various random textures currently used for photon management in thin-film solar cells. We relate the haze and the angularly resolved scattering function of these cells to the enhancement of light absorption. A simple criterion is derived that provides an explanation why certain textures operate more beneficially than others. Using this criterion we propose a generic surface profile that outperforms the available substrates. This work facilitates the understanding of the effect of randomly textured surfaces and provides guidelines towards their optimization.

Plasmonic reflection grating back contacts for microcrystalline silicon solar cells

We report on the fabrication and optical simulation of a plasmonic light-trapping concept for microcrystalline silicon solar cells, consisting of silver nanostructures arranged in square lattice at the ZnO:Al/Ag back contact of the solar cell. Those solar cells deposited on this plasmonic reflection grating back contact showed an enhanced spectral response in the wavelengths range from 500 nm to 1000 nm, when comparing to flat solar cells. For a particular period, even an enhancement of the short circuit current density in comparison to the conventional random texture light-trapping concept is obtained. Full three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations are used to explain the working principle of the plasmonic light-trapping concept.

Deposition of Si-DLC films with high hardness, low stress and high deposition rates

Abstract In this work silicon-incorporated diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) films were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from gaseous mixtures of CH4 and SiH4. A study of the influence of self-bias and gas composition on the mechanical and structural properties of the films was carried out. Results show that films deposited at high self-bias present high deposition rates, low stress and surprisingly high hardness. Increasing silane concentration in the gas phase leads to an enhancement of the observed effects. Compositional and structural characterization show that deposition at high bias leads to increased sp2 character and rather low silicon contents. Increasing the silane content in the plasma leads to an increase in the sp3 fraction of the films, and yields a further reduction of stress with almost no effect upon hardness. In this way, the possibility of producing films with high hardness (>20 GPa), low stress (∼0.5 GPa) and high deposition rates (>40 nm/min) has been demonstrated. This result is thought to be very important from the point of view of technological applications.

Deposition of microcrystalline silicon prepared by hot-wire chemical-vapor deposition: The influence of the deposition parameters on the material properties and solar cell performance

Microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) of superior quality can be prepared using the hot-wire chemical-vapor deposition method (HWCVD). At a low substrate temperature (TS) of 185 °C excellent material properties and solar cell performance were obtained with spin densities of 6×1015cm−3 and solar cell efficiencies up to 9.4%, respectively. In this study we have systematically investigated the influence of various deposition parameters on the deposition rate and the material properties. For this purpose, thin films and solar cells were prepared at specific substrate and filament temperatures and deposition pressures (pD), covering the complete range from amorphous to highly crystalline material by adjusting the silane concentration. The influence of these deposition parameters on the chemical reactions at the filament and in the gas phase qualitatively explains the behavior of the structural composition and the formation of defects. In particular, we propose that the deposition rate is determined by the product...

Design of nanostructured plasmonic back contacts for thin-film silicon solar cells

We report on a plasmonic light-trapping concept based on localized surface plasmon polariton induced light scattering at nanostructured Ag back contacts of thin-film silicon solar cells. The electromagnetic interaction between incident light and localized surface plasmon polariton resonances in nanostructured Ag back contacts was simulated with a three-dimensional numerical solver of Maxwells equations. Geometrical parameters as well as the embedding material of single and periodic nanostructures on Ag layers were varied. The design of the nanostructures was analyzed regarding their ability to scatter incident light at low optical losses into large angles in the silicon absorber layers of the thin-film silicon solar cells.

Structure and growth of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon: Investigation by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy of films grown at different plasma excitation frequencies

Abstract Microcrystalline silicon prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition consists of variable volume fractions of amorphous phase, grain boundaries, cavities and crystalline grains. In this paper the structural properties, which strongly depend on the growth conditions, were investigated in detail by transmission electron microscopy and by Raman spectroscopy. A columnar structure parallel to the growth direction is observed for all conditions investigated. By increasing the plasma excitation frequency the crystalline volume fraction and the grain sizes are enhanced. Simultaneously an increase in the growth rate can be achieved, which is accompanied by an increasing etch rate of amorphous material. In addition, spherical voids were found predominantly in samples prepared at a low plasma excitation frequency. The growth of a porous initial layer containing a high density of ‘crack-line’ voids is observed when high plasma excitation frequencies are applied. These results suggest that the micr...

Room-temperature photoluminescence from Tb ions implanted in SiO2 on Si

The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) of Tb3+ ions has been studied. The Tb ions were implanted into 200 nm thick SiO2 on Si wafers. To achieve a uniform Tb distribution, the implantations were performed at 50, 100, and 190 keV to a total dose of 8.8×1014–1.3×1016 ions/cm2, resulting in Tb concentrations of 0.18–2.7 at. %. The PL spectrum consists of sharp lines due to the Tb3+ intra-4f transitions and a broadband due to SiO2 defects. The samples were annealed at temperatures ranging from 600 to 1050 °C. Up to 900 °C, the annealing procedure improves the PL yield; at temperatures higher than 1000 °C, the PL yield drops again at high dose. The PL spectra show noticeable influence of Tb–Tb crossrelaxation, which favors the green PL over the blue PL.