Synthesis of Novel P-Type Nanocrystalline Si Prepared from SiH2Cl2 and SiCl4 for Window Layer of Thin Film Si Solar Cell

Abstract

A novel p-type hydrogenated chlorinated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H:(Cl)) film was fabricated from chlorinated materials, i.e., SiH2Cl2 and SiCl4,by rf plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. These p-type nc-Si:H:(Cl) films showed high conductivities of 10–50 S/cm under 3000–5000 ppm B2H6-mixing concentrations with lower optical absorption in the visible region, while maintaining a high film crystallinity. No marked darkening of the ZnO:Al layer was observed after deposition of the p-type nc-Si:H:(Cl) layer fabricated from SiH2Cl2 and SiCl4 compared to the p-type Si:H film fabricated from SiH4. The origin of the low optical absorption in p-type nc-Si:H:(Cl) is demonstrated along with the performance of a p–i–n structure amorphous silicon solar cell.