Development of Micromorph Cells in Large-Area Industrial Reactor

Abstract

The influences of the deposition pressure and silane depletion on the efficiency of single-junction microcrystalline silicon solar cells has been investigated. The efficiency is found to correlate with the ion energy which affects the density of states in the absorber material. Cell with efficiency of 7.3% at a deposition rate of 1 nm/s, and, respectively, 7.8% at 0.35 nm/s were deposited in RD KAI M industrial reactor. Silicon oxide based intermediate reflector layers were developed in KAI reactor for incorporation in micromorph devices. Material with an index of refraction of 1.7 at 600 nm and low lateral conductivity were deposited. Micromorph devices incorporating these intermediate reflector layers were fabricated with initial efficiency of 12.3% at a deposition rate of 0.35 nm/s and 10.8% at 1 nm/s.