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Recombination Lifetime in Microcrystalline Silicon Absorbers of Highly Efficient Thin-Film Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Torsten Brammer
Affiliation:
Institute of Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
Helmut Stiebig
Affiliation:
Institute of Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
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Abstract

Absorber layers of microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition are characterized regarding the recombination lifetime. The characterization is based on a comparison of experimentally determined solar cell characteristics with results from numerical device simulations. Evaluation of the dark reverse saturation current indicates a strong dependence of τ on the hydrogen dilution during the deposition. Close to the transition region to amorphous growth where the highest solar cell efficiencies are observed τ is maximum within the crystalline deposition regime and equals 30 ns.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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