Composition and electronic structure of SiOx/TiOy/Al passivating carrier selective contacts on n‑type silicon solar cells

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Christoph Flathmann
  • Tobias Meyer
  • Valeriya Titova
  • Jan Schmidt
  • Michael Seibt

Organisationseinheiten

Externe Organisationen

  • Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
  • Institut für Solarenergieforschung GmbH (ISFH)
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer3124
FachzeitschriftScientific reports
Jahrgang2023
Ausgabenummer13
Frühes Online-Datum22 Feb. 2023
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2023

Abstract

Carrier-selective and passivating SiOx/TiOy heterocontacts are an attractive alternative to conventional contacts due to their high efficiency potentials combined with relatively simple processing schemes. It is widely accepted that post deposition annealing is necessary to obtain high photovoltaic efficiencies, especially for full area aluminum metallized contacts. Despite some previous high-level electron microscopy studies, the picture of atomic-scale processes underlying this improvement seems to be incomplete. In this work, we apply nanoscale electron microscopy techniques to macroscopically well-characterized solar cells with SiOx/TiOy/Al rear contacts on n-type silicon. Macroscopically, annealed solar cells show a tremendous decrease of series resistance and improved interface passivation. Analyzing the microscopic composition and electronic structure of the contacts, we find that partial intermixing of the SiOx and TiOy layers occurs due to annealing, leading to an apparent thickness reduction of the passivating SiOx. However, the electronic structure of the layers remains clearly distinct. Hence, we conclude that the key to obtain highly efficient SiOx/TiOy/Al contacts is to tailor the processing such that the excellent chemical interface passivation of a SiOx layer is achieved for a layer thin enough to allow efficient tunneling through the layer. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of aluminum metallization on the above mentioned processes.

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Composition and electronic structure of SiOx/TiOy/Al passivating carrier selective contacts on n‑type silicon solar cells. / Flathmann, Christoph; Meyer, Tobias; Titova, Valeriya et al.
in: Scientific reports, Jahrgang 2023, Nr. 13, 3124, 2023.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Flathmann C, Meyer T, Titova V, Schmidt J, Seibt M. Composition and electronic structure of SiOx/TiOy/Al passivating carrier selective contacts on n‑type silicon solar cells. Scientific reports. 2023;2023(13):3124. Epub 2023 Feb 22. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29831-2
Flathmann, Christoph ; Meyer, Tobias ; Titova, Valeriya et al. / Composition and electronic structure of SiOx/TiOy/Al passivating carrier selective contacts on n‑type silicon solar cells. in: Scientific reports. 2023 ; Jahrgang 2023, Nr. 13.
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title = "Composition and electronic structure of SiOx/TiOy/Al passivating carrier selective contacts on n‑type silicon solar cells",
abstract = "Carrier-selective and passivating SiOx/TiOy heterocontacts are an attractive alternative to conventional contacts due to their high efficiency potentials combined with relatively simple processing schemes. It is widely accepted that post deposition annealing is necessary to obtain high photovoltaic efficiencies, especially for full area aluminum metallized contacts. Despite some previous high-level electron microscopy studies, the picture of atomic-scale processes underlying this improvement seems to be incomplete. In this work, we apply nanoscale electron microscopy techniques to macroscopically well-characterized solar cells with SiOx/TiOy/Al rear contacts on n-type silicon. Macroscopically, annealed solar cells show a tremendous decrease of series resistance and improved interface passivation. Analyzing the microscopic composition and electronic structure of the contacts, we find that partial intermixing of the SiOx and TiOy layers occurs due to annealing, leading to an apparent thickness reduction of the passivating SiOx. However, the electronic structure of the layers remains clearly distinct. Hence, we conclude that the key to obtain highly efficient SiOx/TiOy/Al contacts is to tailor the processing such that the excellent chemical interface passivation of a SiOx layer is achieved for a layer thin enough to allow efficient tunneling through the layer. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of aluminum metallization on the above mentioned processes.",
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AU - Seibt, Michael

N1 - Funding Information: The work of C.F., T.M. and M.S. was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)—217133147/SFB 1073, project B02. The work of V.T. and J.S. was supported by the State of Lower Saxony and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). The use of equipment of the “Collaborative Laboratory and User Facility for Electron Microscopy” (CLUE, Göttingen) is gratefully acknowledged. We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Göttingen University.

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N2 - Carrier-selective and passivating SiOx/TiOy heterocontacts are an attractive alternative to conventional contacts due to their high efficiency potentials combined with relatively simple processing schemes. It is widely accepted that post deposition annealing is necessary to obtain high photovoltaic efficiencies, especially for full area aluminum metallized contacts. Despite some previous high-level electron microscopy studies, the picture of atomic-scale processes underlying this improvement seems to be incomplete. In this work, we apply nanoscale electron microscopy techniques to macroscopically well-characterized solar cells with SiOx/TiOy/Al rear contacts on n-type silicon. Macroscopically, annealed solar cells show a tremendous decrease of series resistance and improved interface passivation. Analyzing the microscopic composition and electronic structure of the contacts, we find that partial intermixing of the SiOx and TiOy layers occurs due to annealing, leading to an apparent thickness reduction of the passivating SiOx. However, the electronic structure of the layers remains clearly distinct. Hence, we conclude that the key to obtain highly efficient SiOx/TiOy/Al contacts is to tailor the processing such that the excellent chemical interface passivation of a SiOx layer is achieved for a layer thin enough to allow efficient tunneling through the layer. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of aluminum metallization on the above mentioned processes.

AB - Carrier-selective and passivating SiOx/TiOy heterocontacts are an attractive alternative to conventional contacts due to their high efficiency potentials combined with relatively simple processing schemes. It is widely accepted that post deposition annealing is necessary to obtain high photovoltaic efficiencies, especially for full area aluminum metallized contacts. Despite some previous high-level electron microscopy studies, the picture of atomic-scale processes underlying this improvement seems to be incomplete. In this work, we apply nanoscale electron microscopy techniques to macroscopically well-characterized solar cells with SiOx/TiOy/Al rear contacts on n-type silicon. Macroscopically, annealed solar cells show a tremendous decrease of series resistance and improved interface passivation. Analyzing the microscopic composition and electronic structure of the contacts, we find that partial intermixing of the SiOx and TiOy layers occurs due to annealing, leading to an apparent thickness reduction of the passivating SiOx. However, the electronic structure of the layers remains clearly distinct. Hence, we conclude that the key to obtain highly efficient SiOx/TiOy/Al contacts is to tailor the processing such that the excellent chemical interface passivation of a SiOx layer is achieved for a layer thin enough to allow efficient tunneling through the layer. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of aluminum metallization on the above mentioned processes.

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