Abstract
Structure and microstructure of hydrogenated silicon thin films and the influence of the hydrogen dilution of silane plasma at the PEVCD deposition on the film properties were investigated. The results show that at dilution between 20 and 30 the transition between amorphous and crystalline phase occurs. The sample becomes a mixture of amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon with nano-sized grains and voids with decreasing hydrogen concentration at grain boundaries and post-deposition oxygen contamination. The dominance of Si-H bonds and presence of interstitial oxygen and oxygen bonded in surface Si-OH groups was observed.
Highlights
Solar cells convert solar energy into electricity – either directly through the photovoltaic effect or via a two-step process converting solar energy first into heat or chemical energy
Polysilicon) – the cells are the most effective Si-based solar cells, they need expensive wafer-based production technologies suffering from substantial waste of material, ● amorphous silicon (a-Si) in the thin-films configuration – the cells are produced by the module-based technology, essential layers are deposited on the substrate mostly by the conventional chemical vapour deposition (CVD), mainly by plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) or hot-wire assisted CVD
This work reports on experimental studies of the structure, hydrogen and oxygen microstructure of a-Si:H thin films deposited by PECVD on glass from hydrogen diluted silane plasma
Summary
Solar cells convert solar energy into electricity – either directly through the photovoltaic effect (photovoltaic cells or PV cells) or via a two-step process converting solar energy first into heat or chemical energy. Polysilicon) – the cells are the most effective Si-based solar cells, they need expensive wafer-based production technologies suffering from substantial waste of material, ● amorphous silicon (a-Si) in the thin-films configuration – the cells are produced by the module-based technology, essential layers are deposited on the substrate mostly by the conventional chemical vapour deposition (CVD), mainly by plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) or hot-wire assisted CVD. The conversion efficiencies of a-Si based thin-film cells and panels are lower in comparison with mc-Si and poly-Si cells They take advantage of reduced production costs, and they still attract a lot of attention of researchers and producers in the PV competition with conventional sources of electricity. CVD deposition techniques allow depositing hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films with tailored structure and physical properties for photovoltaics and optoelectronics [1, 2, 3]. This work reports on experimental studies of the structure, hydrogen and oxygen microstructure of a-Si:H thin films deposited by PECVD on glass from hydrogen diluted silane plasma
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