Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T07:24:49.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Electronic Characterization and Light-Induced Degradation in nc-Si:H Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

P. G. Hugger ,
Shouvik Datta ,
P. T. Erslev ,
Guozhen Yue ,
Gautam Ganguly ,
Baojie Yan ,
Jeffrey Yang ,
Subhendu Guha  and
J. D. Cohen
Shouvik Datta
Affiliation:
sdatta@uoregon.edu, University of Oregon, Physics, 1371 E. 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States
P. T. Erslev
Affiliation:
perslev@uoregon.edu, University of Oregon, Physics, 1371 E. 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States
Guozhen Yue
Affiliation:
gyue@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonics Corporation, 1100 W. Maple Road, Tory, MI, 48084, United States
Gautam Ganguly
Affiliation:
gganguly@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonics Corporation, 1100 W. Maple Road, Tory, MI, 48084, United States
Baojie Yan
Affiliation:
byan@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonics Corporation, 1100 W. Maple Road, Tory, MI, 48084, United States
Jeffrey Yang
Affiliation:
jyang@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonics Corporation, 1100 W. Maple Road, Tory, MI, 48084, United States
Subhendu Guha
Affiliation:
sguha@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonics Corporation, 1100 W. Maple Road, Tory, MI, 48084, United States
J. D. Cohen
Affiliation:
dcohen@uoregon.edu, University of Oregon, Department of Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States
Get access

Abstract

The electronic properties of working nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) solar cell devices with conversion efficiencies up to 8.6% were studied using junction capacitance methods. The set of devices examined were deposited on both specular stainless steel substrates and Ag/ZnO textured back reflectors. These devices included nc-Si:H grown under constant H2 dilution, and also with profiled H2 dilution to control the crystallite sizes and volume fraction. Transient photocapacitance and transient photocurrent spectroscopies were used to obtain sub-band-gap optical spectra. A comparison of these two kinds of spectra also allowed us to deduce the minority carrier collection fractions as a function of temperature and light-induced degradation. Light-soaking was found to cause a distinct decrease in minority carrier collection, as well as a consistent decrease in defects responding to drive-level capacitance profiling. A tentative microscopic model is proposed that accounts for these degradation effects in nc-Si:H.

Keywords

photovoltaicelectronic structureSi
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 910: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology – 2006 , 2006 , 0910-A01-05
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Yan, B., Yue, G., Owens, J. M., Yang, J., and Guha, S., Proc. of 4th World Conf. on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, May 2006, Hawaii, in press.Google Scholar
[2] Wang, K., Han, D., Williamson, D.L., Huie, B., Weinberg-Wolf, J.R., Yan, B., Yang, J., and Guha, S., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 862, 117 (2005).Google Scholar
[3] Halverson, A.F., Gutierrez, J.J., Cohen, J.D., Yan, B., Yang, J., and Guha, S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 071920 (2006).Google Scholar
[4] Yan, B., Yue, G., Owens, J.M., Yang, J., and Guha, S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 1925 (2004).Google Scholar
[5] Gelatos, A.V., Mahavadi, K.K., Cohen, J.D., and Harbison, J.P., Appl. Phys. Lett. 53, 403 (1988).Google Scholar
[6] Unold, T., Hautala, J., and Cohen, J.D., Phys. Rev. B 50, 16985 (1994).Google Scholar
[7] Lubianiker, Y., Cohen, J.D., Jin, H.- C., and Abelson, J.R., ”, Phys. Rev. B 60, 4434 (1999).Google Scholar
[8] Halverson, A.F., Gutierrez, J.J., Cohen, J.D., Yan, B., Yang, J., and Guha, S., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 862, 481 (2005).Google Scholar