Research on the Hydrogen Passivation of Defects and Impurities in Si Relevant to Crystalline Si Solar Cell Materials: Final Report, 16 February 2000 -- 15 April 2003

Abstract

The goal of this experimental research program is to increase the understanding, at a microscopic level, of hydrogenation processes and passivation mechanisms for crystalline-Si photovoltaics. In our experiments, vibrational spectroscopy was used to study the properties of the interstitial H2 molecule in Si and the transition-metal-hydrogen complexes in Si. The interstitial H2 molecule is formed readily in Si when hydrogen is introduced. Our studies establish that interstitial H2 in Si behaves as a nearly free rotator, solving puzzles about the behavior of this defect that have persisted since the discovery of its vibrational spectrum. The transition metals are common impurities in Si that decrease the minority-carrier lifetime and degrade the efficiencies of solar cells. Therefore, the possibility that transition-metal impurities in Si might be passivated by hydrogen has long been of interest. Our studies of transition-metal-H complexes in Si help to establish the structural and electrical properties of a family of Pt-H complexes in Si, and have made the Pt-H complexes a model system for understanding the interaction of hydrogen with transition-metal impurities in Si.