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Advances in the Characterization of Compositionally-graded Layers in Amorphous Semiconductor Solar Cells by Real Time Spectroellipsometry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

R. W. Collins ,
Sangbo Kim ,
Joohyun Koh ,
J. S. Burnham ,
Lihong Jiao ,
Ing-Shin Chen  and
C. R. Wronski
R. W. Collins
Affiliation:
Department of Physics Materials Research Laboratory
Sangbo Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Physics Materials Research Laboratory
Joohyun Koh
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory
J. S. Burnham
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory
Lihong Jiao
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Ing-Shin Chen
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
C. R. Wronski
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
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Abstract

We have developed a real time spectroellipsometry data analysis procedure that allows us to characterize compositionally- graded amorphous semiconductor alloy thin films prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). As an example, we have applied the analysis to obtain the depth-profile of the optical gap and alloy composition with ≤15 Å resolution for a hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon alloy (a-Si1−xCx:H) film prepared by continuously varying the gas flow ratio z=[CH4]/{[CH4]+[SiH4]} in the PECVD process. The graded layer has been incorporated at the p/i interface of widegap a-Si1−xCx:H (x∼0.05) p-i-n solar cells, and consistent improvements in open-circuit voltage have been demonstrated. The importance of the graded-layer characterization is the ability to relate improvements in device performance directly to the physical properties of the interface layer, rather to the deposition parameters with which they were prepared.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 420: Symposium A – Amorphous Silicon Technology-1996 , 1996 , 443
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

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