Trapped charge densities in Al2O3-based silicon surface passivation layers

Abstract

In Al2O3-based passivation layers, the formation of fixed charges and trap sites can be strongly influenced by small modifications in the stack layout. Fixed and trapped charge densities are characterized with capacitance voltage profiling and trap spectroscopy by charge injection and sensing, respectively. Al2O3 layers are grown by atomic layer deposition with very thin (∼1 nm) SiO2 or HfO2 interlayers or interface layers. In SiO2/Al2O3 and HfO2/Al2O3 stacks, both fixed charges and trap sites are reduced by at least a factor of 5 compared with the value measured in pure Al2O3. In Al2O3/SiO2/Al2O3 or Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 stacks, very high total charge densities of up to 9 × 1012 cm−2 are achieved. These charge densities are described as functions of electrical stress voltage, time, and the Al2O3 layer thickness between silicon and the HfO2 or the SiO2 interlayer. Despite the strong variation of trap sites, all stacks reach very good effective carrier lifetimes of up to 8 and 20 ms on p- and n-type silicon substrates, respectively. Controlling the trap sites in Al2O3 layers opens the possibility to engineer the field-effect passivation in the solar cells.