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Characterization of the Mobility Gap in μc-Si:H Pin Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Bart Elger Pieters ,
Sandra Schicho  and
Helmut Stiebig
Bart Elger Pieters
Affiliation:
b.pieters@fz-juelich.de, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institut für Energieforschung - Photovoltaik, Leo-Brandt-Straße, Jülich, 52428, Germany
Sandra Schicho
Affiliation:
s.schicho@fz-juelich.de, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institut für Energieforschung - Photovoltaik, Leo-Brandt-Straße, Jülich, 52428, Germany
Helmut Stiebig
Affiliation:
h.stiebig@fz-juelich.de, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institut für Energieforschung - Photovoltaik, Leo-Brandt-Straße, Jülich, 52428, Germany
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Abstract

For the mobility gap of hydrogenated micro-crystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) a value near 1.1 eV is commonly found, similar to the bandgap of crystalline silicon. However, in other studies mobility gap values have been reported to be in the range of 1.48-1.59 eV. Indeed, for accurate modeling of μc-Si:H solar cells it is paramount that key parameters like the mobility gap are accurately determined. In this work we will discuss a method to determine the mobility gap of μc-Si:H using the dark current activation energy of μc-Si:H pin devices, and apply this method to μc-Si:H solar cells with varying crystalline volume fraction. We found the mobility gap is around 1.2 eV to 1.26 eV for μc-Si:H solar cells with a crystalline volume fraction between 50 % and 70 %. For a highly crystalline solar cell we found a mobility gap of 1.07 eV.

Keywords

electrical propertiesphotovoltaicthin film
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1066: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology—2008 , 2008 , 1066-A04-03
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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References

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