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Carrier Lifetime Measurements by Photoconductance at Low Temperature on Passivated Crystalline Silicon Wafers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2013

Guillaume Courtois ,
Bastien Bruneau ,
Igor P. Sobkowicz ,
Antoine Salomon  and
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
Guillaume Courtois
Affiliation:
Total New Energies, R&D Division, Tour Michelet, 24 Cours Michelet – La Défense 10 92069 Paris La Défense Cedex, France LPICM, CNRS – Ecole Polytechnique, Bât 406, Route de Saclay 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
Bastien Bruneau
Affiliation:
LPICM, CNRS – Ecole Polytechnique, Bât 406, Route de Saclay 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
Igor P. Sobkowicz
Affiliation:
Total New Energies, R&D Division, Tour Michelet, 24 Cours Michelet – La Défense 10 92069 Paris La Défense Cedex, France LPICM, CNRS – Ecole Polytechnique, Bât 406, Route de Saclay 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
Antoine Salomon
Affiliation:
Total New Energies, R&D Division, Tour Michelet, 24 Cours Michelet – La Défense 10 92069 Paris La Défense Cedex, France
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
Affiliation:
LPICM, CNRS – Ecole Polytechnique, Bât 406, Route de Saclay 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
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Abstract

We propose an implementation of the PCD technique to minority carrier effective lifetime assessment in crystalline silicon at 77K. We focus here on (n)-type, FZ, polished wafers passivated by a-Si:H deposited by PECVD at 200°C. The samples were immersed into liquid N2 contained in a beaker placed on a Sinton lifetime tester. Prior to be converted into lifetimes, data were corrected for the height shift induced by the beaker. One issue lied in obtaining the sum of carrier mobilities at 77K. From dark conductance measurements performed on the lifetime tester, we extracted an electron mobility of 1.1x104 cm².V-1.s-1 at 77K, the doping density being independently calculated in order to account for the freezing effect of dopants. This way, we could obtain lifetime curves with respect to the carrier density. Effective lifetimes obtained at 77K proved to be significantly lower than at RT and not to depend upon the doping of the a-Si:H layers. We were also able to experimentally verify the expected rise in the implied Voc, which, on symmetrically passivated wafers, went up from 0.72V at RT to 1.04V at 77K under 1 sun equivalent illumination.

Keywords

photoconductivitypassivationSi
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1536: Symposium A – Film Silicon Science and Technology , 2013 , pp. 119 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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References

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