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Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon (a-Si:H) Photovoltaic Thin Films Deposited onto Ultra-Low Density Aerogels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

S. P. Hotaling  and
F. P. Proni
S. P. Hotaling
Affiliation:
US Air Force Rome Laboratory/OCP, Griffiss AFB, NY 13440–5700, USA
F. P. Proni
Affiliation:
US Air Force Rome Laboratory/OCP, Griffiss AFB, NY 13440–5700, USA
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Abstract

Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon (a-Si:H) photovoltaic thin films have been deposited onto ultra low density (ULD) silica aerogel substrates using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The techniques and results of ULD aerogel fabrication, surface treatment, thin film deposition and photovoltaic (PV) characterization are discussed. DC photbcurrent and transient time of flight measurements were performed for the PV characterization, while ellipsometry, transmission optical spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and low magnification optical microscopy (×64) were used to obtain qualitative and quantitative surface morphology, microstructure and film thickness data. This research indicates that ULD aerogels may be used as substrates for dielectric and metallic thin films which have electrical, optical and mechanical properties comparable to films deposited onto conventional substrates such as glass, metals or plastics. These data taken together with the lightweight of the ULD aerogels may be of interest to the space based sensor community as a possible route to large, lightweight photonic sensors or PV arrays. These results thus indicate that ULD aerogels could be used as substrate materials for other thin films of interest to the PV community, for example, we have produced ultra lightweight reflective optics using this fusion of solgel and thin film technologies [1].

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 219: Symposium A – Amorphous Silicon Technology - 1991 , 1991 , 499
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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References

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