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Mixed phase silicon oxide layers for thin-film silicon solar cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2011

Peter Cuony,
Duncan T.L. Alexander,
Linus Löfgren,
Michael Krumrey,
Michael Marending,
Mathieu Despeisse and
Christophe Ballif
Peter Cuony
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Duncan T.L. Alexander
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (CIME), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Linus Löfgren
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Michael Krumrey
Affiliation:
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Michael Marending
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Mathieu Despeisse
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Christophe Ballif
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Rue Breguet 2, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Abstract

Lower absorption, lower refractive index and tunable resistance are three advantages of doped silicon oxide containing nanocrystalline silicon grains (nc-SiOx) compared to doped microcrystalline silicon, for the use as p- and n-type layers in thin-film silicon solar cells. In this study we show how optical, electrical and microstructural properties of nc-SiOx layers depend on precursor gas ratios and we propose a growth model to explain the phase separation in such films into Si-rich and O-rich regions as visualized by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy.

Keywords

photovoltaicthin filmSi

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References

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