Impurity Gettering in Polycrystalline-Silicon Based Passivating Contacts

The Role of Oxide Stoichiometry and Pinholes

verfasst von
Zhongshu Yang, Jan Krügener, Frank Feldmann, Jana Isabelle Polzin, Bernd Steinhauser, Tien T. Le, Daniel Macdonald, An Yao Liu
Abstract

Polycrystalline-silicon/oxide (poly-Si/SiOx) passivating contacts for high efficiency solar cells exhibit excellent surface passivation, carrier selectivity, and impurity gettering effects. However, the ultrathin SiOx interlayer can act as a diffusion barrier for metal impurities and this potentially slows down the overall gettering rate of the poly-Si/SiOx structures. Herein, the factors that determine the blocking effects of the SiOx interlayers are identified and investigated by examining two general types of the SiOx interlayers: 1.3 nm ultrathin tunneling SiOx with negligible pinholes and 2.5 nm SiOx with thermally created pinholes. Iron is used as tracer impurity in silicon to quantify the gettering rate. By fitting the experimental gettering kinetics by a diffusion-limited segregation gettering model, the blocking effects of the SiOx interlayers are quantified by a transport parameter. Both the oxide stoichiometry and pinhole density affect the effective transport of iron through SiOx interlayers. The oxide stoichiometry depends strongly on the oxidation method, while the pinhole density is affected by the activation temperature, doping concentration, doping technique, and possibly the dopant type as well. To enable a fast gettering process during typical high-temperature formation of the poly-Si/SiOx structures, a SiOx interlayer that is less stoichiometric or with a higher pinhole density is preferred.

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Materialien und Bauelemente der Elektronik
Externe Organisation(en)
Australian National University
Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (ISE)
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Advanced energy materials
Band
12
ISSN
1614-6832
Publikationsdatum
23.06.2022
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Erneuerbare Energien, Nachhaltigkeit und Umwelt, Allgemeine Materialwissenschaften
Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung
SDG 7 – Erschwingliche und saubere Energie
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202103773 (Zugang: Geschlossen)