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The dependence of the crystalline volume fraction on the crystallite size for hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon based solar cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2013

K. J. Schmidt
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.
Y. Lin
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
M. Beaudoin
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
G. Xia
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
S. K. O'Leary
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.
G. Yue
Affiliation:
United Solar Ovonic LLC, Troy, MI, United States.
B. Yan
Affiliation:
United Solar Ovonic LLC, Troy, MI, United States.
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Abstract

We have performed an analysis on three hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) based solar cells. In order to determine the impact that impurities play in shaping the material properties, the XRD and Raman spectra corresponding to all three samples were measured. The XRD results, which displayed a number of crystalline silicon-based peaks, were used in order to approximate the mean crystallite sizes through Scherrer's equation. Through a peak decomposition process, the Raman results were used to estimate the corresponding crystalline volume fraction. It was noted that small crystallite sizes appear to favor larger crystalline volume fractions. This dependence seems to be related to the oxygen impurity concentration level within the intrinsic nc-Si:H layers.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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References

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