Hydrogen passivation of np and pn heteroepitaxial InP solar cell structures

Abstract

Dislocations and related point defect complexes caused by lattice mismatch currently limit the performance of heteroepitaxial InP cells by introducing shunting paths across the active junction and by the formation of deep traps within the base region. We have previously demonstrated that plasma hydrogenation is an effective and stable means to passivate the electrical activity of such defects within heteroepitaxial InP layers. In this work, we present our first results on the hydrogen passivation of ac tual heteroepitaxial n+p and p+n InP cell structures grown on GaAs substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We have found that a 2-h exposure to a 13.56-MHz hydrogen plasma at 275°C reduces the deep level co ncentration in the base regions of both n+p and p+n heteroepitaxial InP cell structures from as-grown values of 5–7 × 1014 cm−3, down to 3–5 × 1012 cm−3. All dopants were successfully reactivated by a 400°C, 5-min anneal with no detectable activation of deep levels. Current-voltage (I-V) analysis indicated a subsequent ∼100-fold decrease in reverse leakage current at 1 V reverse bias, and an impro ved built-in voltage for the p+n structures. In addition to being passivated, dislocations are also shown to participate in secondary interactions during hydrogenation. We find that the presence of dislocations enhances hydrogen diffusion into the cell structure and lowers the apparent dissociation energy of Zn-H complexes from 1.19 eV for homoepitaxial Zn-doped InP to 1.12 eV for heteroepitaxial Zn-doped InP. This is explained by additional hydrogen trapping at dislocations subsequent to the r eactivation of Zn dopants after hydrogenation.