Pyramid Size Research Articles

Scaling of smaller pyramidal neuron size and lower energy production in schizophrenia

BackgroundDorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) dysfunction in schizophrenia appears to reflect alterations in layer 3 pyramidal neurons (L3PNs), including smaller cell bodies and lower expression of mitochondrial energy production genes. However, prior somal size studies used biased strategies for identifying L3PNs, and somal size and levels of energy production markers have not been assessed in individual L3PNs. Study designWe combined fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) mRNA and immunohistochemical-labeling of NeuN to determine if the cytoplasmic distribution of VGLUT1 mRNA permits the unbiased identification and somal size quantification of L3PNs. Dual-label FISH for VGLUT1 mRNA and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 4I1 (COX4I1) mRNA, a marker of energy production, was used to assess somal size and COX4I1 transcript levels in individual DLPFC L3PNs from schizophrenia (12 males; 2 females) and unaffected comparison (13 males; 1 female) subjects. Study resultsMeasures of L3PN somal size with NeuN immunohistochemistry or VGLUT1 mRNA provided nearly identical results (ICC = 0.96, p < 0.0001). Mean somal size of VGLUT1-identified L3PNs was 8.7% smaller (p = 0.004) and mean COX4I1 mRNA levels per L3PN were 16.7% lower (p = 0.01) in schizophrenia. These measures were correlated across individual L3PNs in both subject groups (rrm = 0.81–0.86). ConclusionsThis preliminary study presents a novel method for combining unbiased neuronal identification with quantitative assessments of somal size and mRNA levels. We replicated findings of smaller somal size and lower COX4I1 mRNA levels in DLPFC L3PNs in schizophrenia. The normal scaling of COX4I1 mRNA levels with somal size in schizophrenia suggests that lower markers of energy production are secondary to L3PN morphological alterations in the illness.

Toward efficient and industrially compatible fully textured perovskite silicon tandem solar cells: Controlled process parameters for reliable perovskite formation

AbstractCapitalizing on the existing silicon industry, fully textured perovskite‐silicon tandem solar cells have a great potential to penetrate the electricity market. While the use of textured silicon with large pyramid size (&gt; 1 μm) enhances the power conversion efficiency (PCE), it also presents process complications. To achieve high performance, meticulous control of deposition parameters on textured silicon is required. This study provides a guideline for the use of the hybrid evaporation/spin‐coating route to form high‐quality perovskite absorbers. Using various characterization techniques, we highlight intrinsic differences between perovskite growth on flat versus textured substrates. Furthermore, we provide pathways to ensure a high perovskite phase purity, reveal mitigation strategies to avoid the formation of undesired dendritic perovskite structures, give guidelines to ensure photostability, and discuss the “misleading” effect of residual PbI2 on the perovskite photoluminescence response. A good understanding of the perovskite growth on textured silicon enables the fabrication of a tandem device with a PCE &gt; 26% (without employing additives or surface treatments) and a good operational stability. The comprehensive guidelines in this study provide a better understanding of perovskite formation on textured silicon and can be transferred when upscaling the hybrid route perovskite deposition.

Smaller texture improves flexibility of crystalline silicon solar cells

Flexible solar cells are widely researched for their potential usage in photovoltaics integrated into buildings, cars, unmanned arial vehicle and wearable electronics. The thin crystalline silicon solar cell (60–90 μm) is prone to crack due to surface texture when it is under bending. Here we investigated the effect of pyramid size on optical reflectivity and mechanical properties of silicon wafers. We find that smaller and uniform pyramids are beneficial for obtaining efficient and flexible silicon solar cells.

Nanoscale Size Control of Si Pyramid Texture for Perovskite/Si Tandem Solar Cells Enabling Solution‐Based Perovskite Top‐Cell Fabrication and Improved Si Bottom‐Cell Response

AbstractA monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell architecture is employed to surpass the single‐junction efficiency limit. Recently, there is an increasing need for the double‐sided textures in the Si bottom cell to be compatible with the solution‐processed perovskite top cell from an industrial perspective. Herein, a silver‐assisted alkaline etching method is applied to fabricate nanoscale Si pyramid textures, and the influence of varying pyramid size (400–900 nm) on the interface morphology and the performance of perovskite/Si tandem cells is investigated. It is demonstrated that electrical shunting starts to increase, and the open‐circuit voltage (VOC) decreases when the texture size exceeds the perovskite thickness (~500nm) due to the non‐uniform top‐cell formation on a rough Si surface. However, when the texture size is reduced to 400–500 nm, all spin‐coated perovskite top‐cell component layers exhibit an even form over the nanopyramid Si, resulting in a high VOC and an enhanced Si bottom cell current (≈1.0 mA cm−2) due to the suppressed reflectance at the top/bottom cell interface without using optical couplers. The double‐sided nanopyramid Si texture offers opportunities to increase tandem cell efficiency while reducing its production cost compared with the commonly used single‐sided textured Si.

The Number and Size of Individual Kidney Medullary Pyramids is Associated with Clinical Characteristics, Kidney Biopsy Findings, and CKD Outcomes among Kidney Donors.

Segmentation of multiple structures in cross-sectional imaging is time-consuming and impractical to perform manually, especially if the end goal is clinical implementation. In this study, we developed, validated, and demonstrated the capability of a deep learning algorithm to segment individual medullary pyramids in a rapid, accurate, and reproducible manner. The results demonstrate that cortex volume, medullary volume, number of pyramids, and mean pyramid volume is associated with patient clinical characteristics and microstructural findings and provide insights into the mechanisms that may lead to CKD. The kidney is a lobulated organ, but little is known regarding the clinical importance of the number and size of individual kidney lobes. After applying a previously validated algorithm to segment the cortex and medulla, a deep-learning algorithm was developed and validated to segment and count individual medullary pyramids on contrast-enhanced computed tomography images of living kidney donors before donation. The association of cortex volume, medullary volume, number of pyramids, and mean pyramid volume with concurrent clinical characteristics (kidney function and CKD risk factors), kidney biopsy morphology (nephron number, glomerular volume, and nephrosclerosis), and short- and long-term GFR <60 or <45 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 was assessed. Among 2876 living kidney donors, 1132 had short-term follow-up at a median of 3.8 months and 638 had long-term follow-up at a median of 10.0 years. Larger cortex volume was associated with younger age, male sex, larger body size, higher GFR, albuminuria, more nephrons, larger glomeruli, less nephrosclerosis, and lower risk of low GFR at follow-up. Larger pyramids were associated with older age, female sex, larger body size, higher GFR, more nephrons, larger glomerular volume, more nephrosclerosis, and higher risk of low GFR at follow-up. More pyramids were associated with younger age, male sex, greater height, no hypertension, higher GFR, lower uric acid, more nephrons, less nephrosclerosis, and a lower risk of low GFR at follow-up. Cortex volume and medullary pyramid volume and count reflect underlying variation in nephron number and nephron size as well as merging of pyramids because of age-related nephrosclerosis, with loss of detectable cortical columns separating pyramids.

Nanopyramid Texture Formation by One‐Step Ag‐Assisted Solution Process for High‐Efficiency Monocrystalline Si Solar Cells

In monocrystalline Si solar cells, pyramidal surface textures with the size of a few micrometers (micropyramids) are commonly applied for light in‐coupling and trapping. Recently, there is a growing need to reduce the size of pyramids below 1 μm. Herein, an original method to fabricate nanometer‐sized pyramids (nanopyramids) featuring an average size of ≈500 nm or even smaller by using a simple one‐step Ag‐assisted solution process is proposed. The texture size can be controlled by the concentration of AgNO3 in the alkaline etching solution where the generated Ag nanoparticles act as an etching mask as well as promoting the detachment of H2 bubbles from the reacting Si surface. This process enables the formation of uniformly distributed Si nanopyramids with a lower reflectance below 10% and a smaller etching margin less than 1.7 μm compared with the conventional micropyramids. Silicon heterojunction solar cells employing Si nanopyramids outperform those with the conventional micropyramids owing to the reduced optical reflectance while preserving excellent surface passivation and carrier transport properties. These results demonstrate the advantages of our method and the high potential of Si nanopyramids for various applications such as thin crystalline Si solar cells and perovskite/Si tandem solar cells.

Electrochemical oxidation pre-treatment for wet texturing of monocrystalline silicon solar cells

To improve the textured structure uniformity of monocrystalline silicon solar cells, an electrochemical anodic oxidation pretreatment technology was implemented to the silicon surface before the alkali texturing process. The effects of pretreatment on the textured structure were investigated at different oxidation conditions (voltage and duration) in three typical aqueous electrolytes with different pH values. The structure and thickness of the silicon oxide layer on the silicon wafer surface were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the uniform oxide layer of 1.5–2 nm formed on the Si surface can promote the uniform growth of pyramidal nuclei in the initial texturing stage, while the excessive thicker oxide layer will reduce their density and uniformity. The average pyramid sizes were 1.4 ± 0.7 μm and 1.6 ± 1.7 μm with and without electrochemical oxidation pretreatment, respectively. The distribution of pyramid size became more uniform because the fraction of extremely large pyramids was greatly reduced. Compared with the traditional texturing process, the average reflectivity of the textured surface decreased from 13.1 % to 10.4 %. This technique is expected to be a suitable substitute for the H2O2 pre-cleaning process in the Si texturization for the industrial production of solar cells.

Investigation of monocrystalline silicon surface texturization by image processing program

One of the main issues in the photovoltaic industry of silicon solar cells is the optical losses via reflection. To overcome this issue, texturization (chemical etching) remains the most commonly used method to produce a random pyramid structure to reduce reflection and thus increase photocurrent generation. Because of the anisotropic etching property of alkaline solution, square-based upright pyramids are formed, i.e., the difference in etching rates between (100) and (111) planes. In this paper, the following etching solutions were studied: 4/10, 6/6, and 10/4 (KOH weight percentage/IPA volume percentage).The optical, morphological, and electric characterizations using UV-Vis spectroscopy, electron scanning microscopy (SEM), and quasi-steady-state photoconductance (QSSPC) device are performed. Also, the standard weighted reflectance (SWR) was calculated. The pyramid size distribution generated using KOH-IPA solutions was investigated using an image processing program (ImageJ) via SEM images. The calculation of the height of the pyramids reveals that the typical pyramid size ranges from 3 to 9 m, with large pyramids of small proportions. Furthermore, when the pyramids are distributed in a mixture of tiny and medium pyramids in precise proportions, the reflectivity is at its lowest, and as the number of large pyramids rises, the reflectivity increases.

Conformal Dose Modulator for Proton Beam Therapy Part 1: A Simulation Study.

PurposeConformal dose deliveries in proton therapy utilize either a passive scattering system with a modulator or a pencil beam scanning (PBS) system. Efforts have been made to achieve conformal dose delivery by scanning a single energy layer of pencil beams through a 3D conformal modulator (3DCM), which combines a spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) modulator consisting of a micro-pyramid array and a range compensator. The current published approach of designing such 3DCM relies on forward calculation methods to determine the geometry of the modulator. This study presents an alternative designing algorithm that inversely generates the geometry of a 3DCM paired with a corresponding fluence map, customized to patient-specific clinical indications.MethodsCritical spacing governing the size and separation between neighboring micro-pyramids was first determined, under which the dose homogeneity at desired depths could be achieved. We designed an adaptive ring optimization method using a modified gradient descent algorithm to inversely calculate the geometry of the 3DCM. This method includes several stages that progressively optimize both target coverage and dose conformity. The output contains the geometry of the 3DCM and its corresponding proton fluence map. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation was used to validate the results.ResultsThe critical size and spacing of Lucite pyramids was determined to be 0.5 cm for a 184-MeV pristine proton beam. Using MATLAB (R2020a), the inverse designing algorithm generated an optimized 3DCM geometry and a fluence distribution achieving 100% target coverage with the 90% isodose surface and a corresponding conformity index of 1.057 on a spherical target. The resulting geometry was pruned to accommodate the MC simulation software and a currently accessible 3D printing service. The pruned geometry gave 95% target coverage by 90% isodose surface with a conformity index of 1.09 by ray-tracing dose computation. The MC simulation validated the 3DCM with 95% target coverage by 87% isodose surface and a conformity index of 1.12.ConclusionWe have demonstrated the feasibility of using a novel inverse optimization algorithm to generate 3DCM geometry and its corresponding proton beam fluence/intensity map, which could deliver highly conformal dose distribution with pencil beam scanning system using a single energy layer.

Neurotensin agonist PD 149163 modulates the neuroinflammation induced by bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide in mice model

Objective The disruption of bidirectional communication between neuroendocrine and immune components by stressors leads to mental problems. The immunomodulation therapy of neuroinflammation-led psychiatric illness is an emerging area of research. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate immune modulation efficacy of PD 149163 (PD) against the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation. Materials and methods The Swiss albino mice (female/12 weeks) were divided into six groups (6 mice/group): (I) Control: 0.9% NaCl; (II) LPS: 1 mg/kg BW, for 5 days; (III) LPS + PD Low: LPS 1 mg/kg BW (for 5 days) after that PD 100 µg/kg BW (for 21 days); (IV) LPS + PD High: LPS 1 mg/kg BW (for 5 days) after that PD 300 µg/kg BW (for 21 days); (V) PD Low: PD 100 µg/kg BW (for 21 days); (VI) PD High: PD 300 µg/kg BW (for 21 days). All treatments were given intraperitoneal. Results The LPS-induced weight loss (body and brain) was normalized to control after PD treatment. The PD enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity while decreased lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH) level altered in LPS-exposed mice. The significantly increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) in LPS exposure were also decreased by PD. Likewise, the LPS-induced HPA axis activation was stabilized by PD. In the hippocampus, the pyramidal cell layer thickness, pyramidal neurons number and size of CA1 and CA3 regions were reduced along with misalignment, shrinkage, and impairment of cytoarchitecture. In the co-treated group, the LPS-induced hippocampus disruption was reversed after PD exposure. Conclusion We suggested that the PD modulates the LPS-induced neuroinflammation and psychiatric illness in a dose-dependent manner.

Optimizing and improving the growth of Ag nanoparticles decorated on the silicon pyramid for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

This study demonstrates a simple method to fabricate the silicon pyramid on the silicon substrate via a chemical etching method. The chemical etching process with different reaction conditions plays an essential role in controlling the growth of uniform and large silicon pyramids. The silicon pyramid can provide suitable geometric structures to deposit silver nanoparticles with better anti-aggregation stability to apply surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates via the ion-sputtering method. The appropriate silicon pyramid and silver nanoparticles sizes were optimized to produce the most significant SERS effect in the rhodamine 6G molecule. The silicon pyramid exhibited better morphology for the deposition of uniform-sized silver nanoparticles, facilitating the fabrication of high-performance SERS substrate to detect different drugs. The fabrication of silver nanoparticles decorated on the silicon pyramid is facile, of high reproducibility, which shall be advantageous in applications for detecting other molecules via SERS.

Low‐Cost Strategy for High‐Efficiency Bifacial Perovskite/c‐Si Tandem Solar Cells

Many studies have confirmed that the perovskite/crystalline silicon (c‐Si) tandem solar cells (TSCs) can achieve excellent photovoltaic performance far exceeding that of single‐junction solar cells. However, the quite thick c‐Si bottom‐cells have to be used to fully absorb near‐infrared photons, which greatly improves the cost of the TSCs. The bifacial two‐terminal TSCs not only can improve the energy output by introducing rear incident light, but also significantly reduce the Si thickness while maintaining high efficiency. Herein, the photovoltaic performance of bifacial perovskite/c‐Si TSCs under different Si thicknesses, pyramid heights, and albedos have been calculated. It is found that the thickness of the c‐Si sub‐cells can be reduced from the current 250 to 25 μm, and only the albedos need to be increased by 18.6% to cover the absorption loss in the near‐infrared. It is recommended that 100‐μm thick c‐Si is a suitable candidate and optimized the size of the Si pyramids (1.0 μm) to obtain excellent light trapping performance. This work can serve as a guidance for experimental preparation of low‐cost and high‐efficiency bifacial perovskite/c‐Si TSCs.

Influence of the textured pyramid size on the performance of silicon heterojunction solar cell

By adjusting the KOH/H2O texturing condition intendedly, different random pyramidal textures with the average pyramid size of 8 μm (large), 4 μm (medium) and 1.5 μm (small) were prepared on N type M2 monocrystalline silicon substrates for the fabrication of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. It was evidenced that the pyramid morphology not only impacted the reflection of incident light and the heterojunction interface passivation quality but also affected the interface contact property between transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer and Ag electrode. The texture with small pyramids presented the best anti-reflective and passivation performance due to the pyramidal size distribution uniformity, which brought the SHJ solar cell the highest short-circuit current density (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC). However, the texture with small pyramids also led to the worst fill factor (FF). As a result, there was no obvious difference on the conversion efficiency for the textures with different pyramidal size. By characterizing the TCO/Ag contact, the FF reduction induced by the small pyramid texture could be attributed to the increased specific contact resistance of the TCO/Ag contact, which resulted from the fact that there were lots of voids between the TCO layer and Ag electrode, since Ag particles with a larger size than the small pyramids could not fill into the limited space between the adjacent pyramids. As a result, in order to realize the potential to enhance the SHJ solar cell conversion efficiency by adopting the texture with small pyramids, new Ag paste with smaller Ag particles should be adopted.

Degradation study of carrier selective contact silicon solar cells with ageing: Role of silicon surface morphology

Ageing effect on the performance of Ag/ITO/MoOx/n-Si/LiFx/Al carrier selective contact (CSC) silicon solar cells has been investigated based on silicon surface morphology (planar, different pyramid sizes, and chemical polishing of pyramids). The cells with small silicon pyramids (~2 µm) have shown better stability with time than the medium/large pyramids (~5/~8 µm). The chemical polishing of pyramid peaks and valleys has further reduced the cells ageing effect due to minimization of the microstructural stress (tensile in the valleys and compressive at the peaks) at the MoOx/n-Si interface, which has been verified indirectly with cells fabricated on a planar surface. The cell’s performance degradation based on morphology points out the instability of the MoOx layer and Schottky barrier reduction, which results in hole-transport hindrance at the MoOx/n-Si junction with the S-shape in J-V graphs under illumination. The ageing effect on device performance is further investigated using the Sentaurus TCAD simulations with the MoOx layer work function variation, and the study indicates the band bending reduction (minimal carrier inversion) and hole transport barrier at the junction region.

Neuregulin-4 Is Required for Maintaining Soma Size of Pyramidal Neurons in the Motor Cortex.

The regulation of neuronal soma size is essential for appropriate brain circuit function and its dysregulation is associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders. A defect in the dendritic growth and elaboration of motor neocortical pyramidal neurons in neonates lacking neuregulin-4 (NRG4) has previously been reported. In this study, we investigated whether the loss of NRG4 causes further morphologic defects that are specific to these neurons. We analyzed the soma size of pyramidal neurons of layer (L)2/3 and L5 of the motor cortex and a subpopulation of multipolar interneurons in this neocortical region in Nrg4+/+ and Nrg4−/− mice. There were significant decreases in pyramidal neuron soma size in Nrg4−/− mice compared with Nrg4+/+ littermates at all stages studied [postnatal day (P)10, P30, and P60]. The reduction was especially marked at P10 and in L5 pyramidal neurons. Soma size was not significantly different for multipolar interneurons at any age. This in vivo phenotype was replicated in pyramidal neurons cultured from Nrg4−/− mice and was rescued by NRG treatment. Analysis of a public single-cell RNA sequencing repository revealed discrete Nrg4 and Erbb4 expression in subpopulations of L5 pyramidal neurons, suggesting that the observed defects were due in part to loss of autocrine Nrg4/ErbB4 signaling. The pyramidal phenotype in the motor cortex of Nrg4−/− mice was associated with a lack of Rotarod test improvement in P60 mice, suggesting that absence of NRG4 causes alterations in motor performance.

Tuning the topographical parameters of Si pyramids for a better surface enhanced Raman response.

Development of facile routes for the fabrication of surface enhanced Raman substrates (SERS) along with optimal conditions for a high enhancement factor are significant from an application perspective of SERS. Despite steady efforts to establish high SERS signals, cost effectiveness without compromising the enhanced and robust Raman signal remains a major challenge. To address this aspect, herein, we try to tune the topographical aspects of Si pyramidal textures in pursuit of efficient SERS substrates. These pyramidal surfaces are deployed as a pre-template for adopting a SERS substrate using a cost-effective wet chemical etching method. By controlling the etching time, various topographical parameters namely base size, height, pyramidal number density and uniformity of pyramidal textures are modulated. To make all the surfaces SERS active, a Au (50%)-Ag (50%) alloy nanolayer is post-deposited over them. Furthermore, SERS behavior of all the surfaces is investigated by using Rh6G dye as an analyte molecule. In addition to the high density of hot spots in terms of pyramidal number density, base size and uniformity shows a strong correlation in deciding the substantial SERS response. Furthermore, we find a high enhancement factor (∼1.42 × 108) for the substrate consisting of dense, small and uniformly sized pyramids. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations done on similar structures corroborate our results. Additionally, universal applicability of the proposed substrate is also verified by detecting methylene blue and methyl parathion analyte molecules. These substrates are much cheaper (∼5 USD for 1 × 1 cm2) in comparison with commercially available Klarite SERS substrates (∼100 USD for 2 × 2 mm2). We believe this work provides a critical insight into the design of potential SERS substrates using a significantly cost-effective wet chemical etching process.

Inter-facet composition modulation of III-nitride nanowires over pyramid textured Si substrates by stationary molecular beam epitaxy

InGaN nanowires (NWs) are grown on pyramid textured Si substrates by stationary plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). The incidence angles of the highly directional source beams vary for different pyramid facets, inducing a distinct inter-facet modulation of the In content of the InGaN NWs, which is verified by spatial element distribution analysis. The resulting multi-wavelength emission is confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL). Pure GaN phase formation dominates on certain facets, which is attributed to extreme local growth conditions, such as low active N flux. On the same facets, InGaN NWs exhibit a morphology change close to the pyramid ridge, indicating inter-facet atom migration. This cross-talk effect due to inter-facet atom migration is verified by a decrease of the inter-facet In content modulation amplitude with shrinking pyramid size. A detailed analysis of the In content variation across individual pyramid facets and element distribution line profiles reveals that the cross-talk effect originates mainly from the inter-facet atom migration over the convex pyramid ridge facet boundaries rather than the concave base line facet boundaries. This is understood by first-principles calculations showing that the pyramid baseline facet boundary acts as an energy barrier for atom migration, which is much higher than that of the ridge facet boundary. The influence of the growth temperature on the inter-facet In content modulation is also presented. This work gives deep insight into the composition modulation for the realization of multi-color light-emitting devices based on the monolithic growth of InGaN NWs on pyramid textured Si substrates.

Fully Vacuum‐Processed Perovskite Solar Cells on Pyramidal Microtextures

Solar cells based on metal halide perovskites have attracted tremendous attention due to the rapid increase in performance of single junctions and tandem solar cells. Recently, highest perovskite/silicon tandem efficiencies are realized with front‐side polished silicon wafers or adapted microstructure of textured silicon solar cells. One way to integrate perovskite top cells on typical micrometer‐sized pyramidal structures, is conformal vacuum‐based perovskite deposition. Herein, fully vacuum‐based perovskite solar cells are developed on top of random pyramidal microtextured glass substrates with a pyramid size up to 9 μm. This method allows improvement of the light management of the textured perovskite solar cell and resembles the typical pyramid topography of silicon solar cells as a step toward monolithic tandem integration. Moreover, to improve the quality of the perovskite on the textured substrates, three different methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) films are tested by adjusting the rate ratio of the precursors. Optimized ratios for textured substrates with higher PbI2 rates enable a transient photoluminescence decay time above 0.75 μs approaching that of planar substrates at around 1.2 μs. Finally, a efficiency over 15% is achieved, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported device on microscopically textured glass by co‐evaporated ion.

Sub-micrometer random-pyramid texturing of silicon solar wafers with excellent surface passivation and low reflectance

Select emerging solar cell technologies, ranging from very narrow screen-printed fingers to perovskite/silicon tandems, would benefit from a reduction of the height of the standard pyramidal texture of monocrystalline silicon wafers to below 1 μm. However, fabricating such small surface features usually compromises the requisite low reflectance and high passivation quality. Through systematic design of experiments, we demonstrate that conventional alkaline-based wet-chemical etching processes can be tuned to produce dense, spatially homogeneous, and uniformly sized sub-micrometer pyramids. Precise texture size can be further controlled by adding potassium silicate to the texturing solution to effectively slow the pyramid growth rate and promote nucleation. With pyramid size distribution data—extracted from multiple atomic force microscopy images across each wafer—we demonstrate 16 nanotextures with average pyramid sizes ranging from 62 to 512 nm, with the largest having only 0.3% of its pyramids taller than 1 μm. Six of the nanotextures exhibit light trapping and surface defect densities comparable to state-of-the-art microtextured wafers. The best nanotexture achieved an AM1.5G-weighted reflectance of 11.8% and a minority-carrier lifetime of 3.4 ms after passivation with amorphous silicon, demonstrating that smaller textures need not deteriorate solar cell performance.

Passivation of textured crystalline silicon with small pyramids by silicon nitride films formed by catalytic chemical vapor deposition and phosphorus catalytic impurity doping

Abstracts Silicon nitride (SiNx) films formed by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) and phosphorus (P) catalytic impurity doping (Cat-doping) are applied on textured crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers with a pyramid size of 1–2 µm to reduce the surface recombination of minority carriers. SiNx single layer passivation realizes a surface recombination velocity (SRV) of less than 10 cm/s. The addition of a P Cat-doped layer results in a reduction in a SRV to ~7 cm/s owing to field-effect passivation. These values are comparable to those obtained in our previous study for textured c-Si surface with larger-sized pyramids, indicating the high passivation ability of Cat-CVD SiNx films and P Cat-doping independent of the size of pyramids. In addition to the double-side textured wafers, we also prepare a single-side textured wafer using Cat-CVD SiNx as an etching barrier. We find that Cat-CVD SiNx films can be utilized as an etching barrier against alkali solution, and a high effective minority carrier lifetime (τeff) of 2.3 ms has been obtained by the passivation with Cat-CVD SiNx films. These achievements will contribute to an improvement in the performance of back-contact c-Si solar cells.