Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 111340 |
| Journal | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |
| Volume | 232 |
| Early online date | 30 Aug 2021 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2021 |
Abstract
We examine the impact of hydrogen on the boron-oxygen-related lifetime degradation and regeneration kinetics in boron-doped p-type Czochralski-grown silicon wafers. We introduce the hydrogen into the silicon bulk by rapid thermal annealing. The hydrogen source are hydrogen-rich silicon nitride (SiN x:H) layers. Aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3) layers of varying thickness are placed in-between the silicon wafer surfaces and the SiN x:H layers. By varying the Al 2O 3 thickness, which acts as an effective hydrogen diffusion barrier, the hydrogen bulk content is varied over more than one order of magnitude. The hydrogen content is determined from measured wafer resistivity changes. In order to examine the impact of hydrogen on the degradation kinetics, all samples are illuminated at a light intensity of 0.1 suns near room temperature. We observe no impact of the in-diffused hydrogen content on the degradation rate constant, confirming that hydrogen is not involved in the boron-oxygen degradation mechanism. The regeneration experiments at 160°C and 1 sun, however, show a clear dependence on the hydrogen content with a linear increase of the regeneration rate constant with increasing bulk hydrogen concentration. However, extrapolation of our measurements toward a zero in-diffused hydrogen content shows that the regeneration is still working even without any in-diffused hydrogen. Hence, our measurements demonstrate that there are two distinct regeneration processes taking place. This is in good agreement with a recently proposed defect reaction model and is also in agreement with the finding that the permanent boron-oxygen deactivation also works on non-fired solar cells, though at a lower rate.
Keywords
- Boron-oxygen defect, Carrier lifetime, Czochralski-grown silicon, Hydrogen, LID, Regeneration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Materials Science(all)
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 232, 111340, 10.2021.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of hydrogen on the boron-oxygen-related lifetime degradation and regeneration kinetics in crystalline silicon
AU - Helmich, Lailah
AU - Walter, Dominic C.
AU - Falster, Robert
AU - Voronkov, Vladimir V.
AU - Schmidt, Jan
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank C. Marquardt for sample processing (cleaning, etching, diffusion).This work was funded by the German State of Lower Saxony and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the research project “LIMES” under contract No. 0324204D . The content is the responsibility of the authors.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - We examine the impact of hydrogen on the boron-oxygen-related lifetime degradation and regeneration kinetics in boron-doped p-type Czochralski-grown silicon wafers. We introduce the hydrogen into the silicon bulk by rapid thermal annealing. The hydrogen source are hydrogen-rich silicon nitride (SiN x:H) layers. Aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3) layers of varying thickness are placed in-between the silicon wafer surfaces and the SiN x:H layers. By varying the Al 2O 3 thickness, which acts as an effective hydrogen diffusion barrier, the hydrogen bulk content is varied over more than one order of magnitude. The hydrogen content is determined from measured wafer resistivity changes. In order to examine the impact of hydrogen on the degradation kinetics, all samples are illuminated at a light intensity of 0.1 suns near room temperature. We observe no impact of the in-diffused hydrogen content on the degradation rate constant, confirming that hydrogen is not involved in the boron-oxygen degradation mechanism. The regeneration experiments at 160°C and 1 sun, however, show a clear dependence on the hydrogen content with a linear increase of the regeneration rate constant with increasing bulk hydrogen concentration. However, extrapolation of our measurements toward a zero in-diffused hydrogen content shows that the regeneration is still working even without any in-diffused hydrogen. Hence, our measurements demonstrate that there are two distinct regeneration processes taking place. This is in good agreement with a recently proposed defect reaction model and is also in agreement with the finding that the permanent boron-oxygen deactivation also works on non-fired solar cells, though at a lower rate.
AB - We examine the impact of hydrogen on the boron-oxygen-related lifetime degradation and regeneration kinetics in boron-doped p-type Czochralski-grown silicon wafers. We introduce the hydrogen into the silicon bulk by rapid thermal annealing. The hydrogen source are hydrogen-rich silicon nitride (SiN x:H) layers. Aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3) layers of varying thickness are placed in-between the silicon wafer surfaces and the SiN x:H layers. By varying the Al 2O 3 thickness, which acts as an effective hydrogen diffusion barrier, the hydrogen bulk content is varied over more than one order of magnitude. The hydrogen content is determined from measured wafer resistivity changes. In order to examine the impact of hydrogen on the degradation kinetics, all samples are illuminated at a light intensity of 0.1 suns near room temperature. We observe no impact of the in-diffused hydrogen content on the degradation rate constant, confirming that hydrogen is not involved in the boron-oxygen degradation mechanism. The regeneration experiments at 160°C and 1 sun, however, show a clear dependence on the hydrogen content with a linear increase of the regeneration rate constant with increasing bulk hydrogen concentration. However, extrapolation of our measurements toward a zero in-diffused hydrogen content shows that the regeneration is still working even without any in-diffused hydrogen. Hence, our measurements demonstrate that there are two distinct regeneration processes taking place. This is in good agreement with a recently proposed defect reaction model and is also in agreement with the finding that the permanent boron-oxygen deactivation also works on non-fired solar cells, though at a lower rate.
KW - Boron-oxygen defect
KW - Carrier lifetime
KW - Czochralski-grown silicon
KW - Hydrogen
KW - LID
KW - Regeneration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114049957&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111340
DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111340
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114049957
VL - 232
JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
SN - 0927-0248
M1 - 111340
ER -