Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
The microstructure of two different νc-Si:H solar cells was studied by Transmission Electron Microcopy (TEM). At the micrometer scale, a difference in the grain structure is observed close to the ZnO substrate: cracks are found in the cell deposited with the higher silane concentration. Surprisingly, the cell with the cracks close to the transparent conductive oxide shows the largest VOC (530 mV) and FF (68%). These first studies reveal that microstructures of fully microcrystalline silicon devices may show a quite large variation with corresponding effects in solar cell performance.