Quantitative evaluation of implied open-circuit voltage after metal electrode deposition on TiO x /Si heterostructures by photoluminescence imaging: impact of metallization on passivation performance

Abstract

The degradation of surface passivation performance by metallization is a challenge in realizing highly efficient crystalline Si solar cells that use novel carrier-selective contacts. Here, we report on a simple method to study the effect of metallization on passivation of titanium oxide (TiO x )/Si heterostructures. We investigated the relationship between the implied open-circuit voltage (iV OC) and the photoluminescence (PL) intensity imaging of solar cell precursors before metallization. Based on the relationship obtained, the change of the iV OC before and after metallization on the TiO x was evaluated quantitatively. The results showed that the iV OC predicted by the PL measurement decreases by 23–104 mV after metal deposition and shows a good agreement with the measured V OC in the finished solar cells. These results demonstrate that the iV OC evaluation by PL measurement provides a good prediction of the V OC after metallization, which is useful in analyzing the passivation degradation induced by metallization.