Shengzhi Xu

Microstructure and lateral conductivity control of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide and its application in a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H tandem solar cells*

Phosphorous-doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide (n-nc-SiO x :H) films are prepared via radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). Increasing deposition power during n-nc-SiO x :H film growth process can enhance the formation of nanocrystalline and obtain a uniform microstructure of n-nc-SiO x :H film. In addition, in 20s interval before increasing the deposition power, high density small grains are formed in amorphous SiO x matrix with higher crystalline volume fraction (I c) and have a lower lateral conductivity. This uniform microstructure indicates that the higher I c can leads to better vertical conductivity, lower refractive index, wider optical band-gap. It improves the back reflection in a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H tandem solar cells acting as an n-nc-SiO x :H back reflector prepared by the gradient power during deposition. Compared with the sample with SiO x back reflector, with a constant power used in deposition process, the sample with gradient power SiO x back reflector can enhance the total short-circuit current density (J sc) and the initial efficiency of a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H tandem solar cells by 8.3% and 15.5%, respectively.