Relationship between Textured Structure of Substrates and Defect Density of Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition Amorphous Silicon Films

Abstract

The relationship between the textured structure of substrates and the defect density of amorphous silicon (a-Si) films is extensively studied for the films obtained by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD). The performance of solar cells using Cat-CVD a-Si films decreases with increasing substrate haze ratio owing to an increase in the defect density of the Cat-CVD a-Si films. The defect density of the Cat-CVD a-Si films measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement is more sensitive to the textured structure than that of plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) films because of their lower hydrogen content.