Understanding and Reducing the Boron-Oxygen-Related Performance Degradation in Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells

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  • Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)
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Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)223-228
Number of pages6
JournalSolid State Phenomena
Volume95-96
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventGettering and Defect Engineering in Semiconductor Technology GADEST 2003: 10th International Autumn Meeting - Brandenburg, Germany
Duration: 21 Sept 200326 Sept 2003

Abstract

The efficiency of silicon solar cells made on boron-doped Czochralski silicon is known to degrade under illumination. A boron- and oxygen-related metastable defect has been held responsible for this performance loss. This paper aims at clarifying the quantitative dependence of the metastable defect density on the boron and oxygen concentration. In order find knew strategies for the reduction of the degradation a fundamental understanding of the physical mechanism underlying the defect formation is essential. Therefore, we have investigated the time and temperature dependence of the degradation of the carrier lifetime and open-circuit voltage in detail. The defect formation process can be characterized by a two-step mechanism. The initial degradation is extremely fast taking place on a time scale of seconds and is not thermally activated, whereas the asymptotic degradation occurs on a time scale of hours and is thermally activated. The activation energy has been determined to be only 0.37 eV. The second part of the paper aims at optimizing the solar cell emitter diffusion process in order to reduce the performance loss. We show that it is possible to reduce the normalized defect density significantly by a factor of up to 3.5 with an optimized phosphorus diffusion at 850°C in a conventional quartz tube furnace using fast ramping conditions.

Keywords

    Carrier Lifetime, Czochralski, Defects, Degradation, Metastability, Silicon, Solar Cell

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Understanding and Reducing the Boron-Oxygen-Related Performance Degradation in Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells. / Bothe, Karsten; Hezel, Rudolf; Schmidt, Jan.
In: Solid State Phenomena, Vol. 95-96, 2004, p. 223-228.

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articleResearchpeer review

Bothe, Karsten ; Hezel, Rudolf ; Schmidt, Jan. / Understanding and Reducing the Boron-Oxygen-Related Performance Degradation in Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells. In: Solid State Phenomena. 2004 ; Vol. 95-96. pp. 223-228.
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abstract = "The efficiency of silicon solar cells made on boron-doped Czochralski silicon is known to degrade under illumination. A boron- and oxygen-related metastable defect has been held responsible for this performance loss. This paper aims at clarifying the quantitative dependence of the metastable defect density on the boron and oxygen concentration. In order find knew strategies for the reduction of the degradation a fundamental understanding of the physical mechanism underlying the defect formation is essential. Therefore, we have investigated the time and temperature dependence of the degradation of the carrier lifetime and open-circuit voltage in detail. The defect formation process can be characterized by a two-step mechanism. The initial degradation is extremely fast taking place on a time scale of seconds and is not thermally activated, whereas the asymptotic degradation occurs on a time scale of hours and is thermally activated. The activation energy has been determined to be only 0.37 eV. The second part of the paper aims at optimizing the solar cell emitter diffusion process in order to reduce the performance loss. We show that it is possible to reduce the normalized defect density significantly by a factor of up to 3.5 with an optimized phosphorus diffusion at 850°C in a conventional quartz tube furnace using fast ramping conditions.",
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Download

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding and Reducing the Boron-Oxygen-Related Performance Degradation in Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells

AU - Bothe, Karsten

AU - Hezel, Rudolf

AU - Schmidt, Jan

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - The efficiency of silicon solar cells made on boron-doped Czochralski silicon is known to degrade under illumination. A boron- and oxygen-related metastable defect has been held responsible for this performance loss. This paper aims at clarifying the quantitative dependence of the metastable defect density on the boron and oxygen concentration. In order find knew strategies for the reduction of the degradation a fundamental understanding of the physical mechanism underlying the defect formation is essential. Therefore, we have investigated the time and temperature dependence of the degradation of the carrier lifetime and open-circuit voltage in detail. The defect formation process can be characterized by a two-step mechanism. The initial degradation is extremely fast taking place on a time scale of seconds and is not thermally activated, whereas the asymptotic degradation occurs on a time scale of hours and is thermally activated. The activation energy has been determined to be only 0.37 eV. The second part of the paper aims at optimizing the solar cell emitter diffusion process in order to reduce the performance loss. We show that it is possible to reduce the normalized defect density significantly by a factor of up to 3.5 with an optimized phosphorus diffusion at 850°C in a conventional quartz tube furnace using fast ramping conditions.

AB - The efficiency of silicon solar cells made on boron-doped Czochralski silicon is known to degrade under illumination. A boron- and oxygen-related metastable defect has been held responsible for this performance loss. This paper aims at clarifying the quantitative dependence of the metastable defect density on the boron and oxygen concentration. In order find knew strategies for the reduction of the degradation a fundamental understanding of the physical mechanism underlying the defect formation is essential. Therefore, we have investigated the time and temperature dependence of the degradation of the carrier lifetime and open-circuit voltage in detail. The defect formation process can be characterized by a two-step mechanism. The initial degradation is extremely fast taking place on a time scale of seconds and is not thermally activated, whereas the asymptotic degradation occurs on a time scale of hours and is thermally activated. The activation energy has been determined to be only 0.37 eV. The second part of the paper aims at optimizing the solar cell emitter diffusion process in order to reduce the performance loss. We show that it is possible to reduce the normalized defect density significantly by a factor of up to 3.5 with an optimized phosphorus diffusion at 850°C in a conventional quartz tube furnace using fast ramping conditions.

KW - Carrier Lifetime

KW - Czochralski

KW - Defects

KW - Degradation

KW - Metastability

KW - Silicon

KW - Solar Cell

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M3 - Conference article

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VL - 95-96

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EP - 228

JO - Solid State Phenomena

JF - Solid State Phenomena

SN - 1012-0394

T2 - Gettering and Defect Engineering in Semiconductor Technology GADEST 2003

Y2 - 21 September 2003 through 26 September 2003

ER -

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