Abstract
In this work, a high-density hydrogen (HDH) treatment is proposed to reduce interface traps and enhance the efficiency of the passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) device. The hydrogen gas is compressed at pressure (~ 70 atm) and relatively low temperature (~ 200 °C) to reduce interface traps without changing any other part of the device’s original fabrication process. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the enhancement of Si–H bonding and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) confirmed the SiN/Si interface traps after the HDH treatment. In addition, electrical measurements of conductance-voltage are measured and extracted to verify the interface trap density (Dit). Moreover, short circuit current density (Jsc), series resistance (Rs), and fill factor (F.F.) are analyzed with a simulated light source of 1 kW M−2 global AM1.5 spectrum to confirm the increase in cell efficiency. External quantum efficiency (EQE) is also measured to confirm the enhancement in conversion efficiency between different wavelengths. Finally, a model is proposed to explain the experimental result before and after the treatment.
Highlights
Solar cells are one of many renewable energies in the world and are considered the most capable to replace transitional petrochemical energy
We propose a suitable high-density hydrogen (HDH) treatment to reduce the interface traps between the emitter passivation layer and the ntype Si layer without the necessity to alter any additional element of device fabrication
The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum shows that Si–H bonding is enhanced and conductance-voltage peak decreases after the treatment
Summary
Solar cells are one of many renewable energies in the world and are considered the most capable to replace transitional petrochemical energy. The passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) device is regarded as one of the potential devices to replace back surface field (BSF) solar cells [11, 12]. A post treatment that of forming gas annealing in nitrogen (95%) and hydrogen (5%) at 400 °C is used to reduce interface traps with hydrogen and enhance cell efficiency. Such a treatment requires reaction at approximately 400 °C, a temperature too high for solar cells such as heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) which are fabricated at temperatures under 200 °C
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