TY - JOUR

T1 - Light-induced lifetime degradation effects at elevated temperature in Czochralski-grown silicon beyond boron-oxygen-related degradation

AU - Winter, Michael

AU - Walter, Dominic C.

AU - Bredemeier, Dennis

AU - Schmidt, Jan

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the German State of Lower Saxony and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy within the research project LIMES (Contract no. 0324204D ). The content is the responsibility of the authors.

PY - 2019/10

Y1 - 2019/10

N2 - The effect of ‘Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation’ (LeTID) of the carrier lifetime is well known from multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers and solar cells. In this contribution, we perform a series of carrier lifetime measurements to examine, whether the same effect may also be observable in boron-doped Czochralski-grown silicon (Cz-Si). The Cz-Si samples of our study are illuminated (i) at room temperature, (ii) under standard regeneration conditions eliminating the boron-oxygen (BO) related defect (i.e. at 185 °C) and (iii) at a temperature of 80 °C, typical for the examination of the LeTID effect in mc-Si. We observe the typical decay of the carrier lifetime due to the activation of the BO-related defect. Beyond the BO degradation, applying standard solar cell processes, there is no indication for the activation of a second defect. On samples, whose surfaces are passivated by fired hydrogen-rich silicon nitride layers, an additional bulk lifetime degradation effect on a long timescale is observed in the Cz-Si material. However, defect generation rate and injection dependence of the lifetime suggest another defect type than the mc-Si-specific LeTID defect. We conclude that by applying processing steps that trigger LeTID in mc-Si, the same defect does not occur in the Cz-Si samples examined in this study. On a long timescale, however, a hitherto unknown type of defect is activated, which is different from the mc-Si-specific LeTID defect. A careful differentiation between the various kinds of recombination centres which may form during illumination at elevated temperatures is hence of utmost importance.

AB - The effect of ‘Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation’ (LeTID) of the carrier lifetime is well known from multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers and solar cells. In this contribution, we perform a series of carrier lifetime measurements to examine, whether the same effect may also be observable in boron-doped Czochralski-grown silicon (Cz-Si). The Cz-Si samples of our study are illuminated (i) at room temperature, (ii) under standard regeneration conditions eliminating the boron-oxygen (BO) related defect (i.e. at 185 °C) and (iii) at a temperature of 80 °C, typical for the examination of the LeTID effect in mc-Si. We observe the typical decay of the carrier lifetime due to the activation of the BO-related defect. Beyond the BO degradation, applying standard solar cell processes, there is no indication for the activation of a second defect. On samples, whose surfaces are passivated by fired hydrogen-rich silicon nitride layers, an additional bulk lifetime degradation effect on a long timescale is observed in the Cz-Si material. However, defect generation rate and injection dependence of the lifetime suggest another defect type than the mc-Si-specific LeTID defect. We conclude that by applying processing steps that trigger LeTID in mc-Si, the same defect does not occur in the Cz-Si samples examined in this study. On a long timescale, however, a hitherto unknown type of defect is activated, which is different from the mc-Si-specific LeTID defect. A careful differentiation between the various kinds of recombination centres which may form during illumination at elevated temperatures is hence of utmost importance.

KW - Boron-oxygen defect

KW - Carrier lifetime

KW - Czochralski-grown silicon

KW - LeTID

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069885314&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110060

DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110060

M3 - Article

VL - 201

JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

SN - 0927-0248

M1 - 110060

ER -