Conference Paper: Silicon grain boundary passivation for photovoltaics: a novel approach with small polar molecules

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TitleSilicon grain boundary passivation for photovoltaics: a novel approach with small polar molecules
AuthorsWang, W1
Wang, L1
Liu, F1
Yan, F2
Johnston, S2
Al-Jassim, M2
KeywordsGrain boundaries
Photovoltaic cells
Silicon
Passivation
Conductivity
Issue Date2012
PublisherIEEE.
CitationThe 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Austin Cenvention Centre, Austin, Texas, USA, 3-8 June 2012. In Conference Record, 2012, p. 001144 - 001148 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317804
AbstractGrain boundaries (GBs) play a major role in determining the device performance of in particular polycrystalline thin film solar cells including Si, CdTe and CIGS. Hydrogen passivation has been traditionally applied to passivate the defects at GBs. However, hydrogenated films such as amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (c-Si:H) are subject to light-induced degradation effects. In this study on multicrystalline (mc)-Si wafers, we found an excellent correlation between the grain misorientation and the corresponding electrical resistivity across grain boundaries. In particular, the charge transport across GBs was greatly enhanced after the wafers were properly treated in our polar molecule solutions. The results were explained to be due to the more effective charge neutralization and passivation of polar molecules on localized charges at GBs. These findings may help us achieve high-quality materials at low cost for high-efficiency solar cells by improving the carrier transport and minimizing the carrier recombination. We also believe that this study will help us with a deeper understanding on GBs and their behaviors for the applications not only in photovoltaics, but also in other solid-state devices such as thin-film transistors. © 2012 IEEE.
ISSN0160-8371
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.035
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317804
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.authorWang, W
dc.contributor.authorWang, L
dc.contributor.authorLiu, F
dc.contributor.authorYan, F
dc.contributor.authorJohnston, S
dc.contributor.authorAl-Jassim, M
dc.date.accessioned2012-09-21T01:43:33Z
dc.date.available2012-09-21T01:43:33Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractGrain boundaries (GBs) play a major role in determining the device performance of in particular polycrystalline thin film solar cells including Si, CdTe and CIGS. Hydrogen passivation has been traditionally applied to passivate the defects at GBs. However, hydrogenated films such as amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (c-Si:H) are subject to light-induced degradation effects. In this study on multicrystalline (mc)-Si wafers, we found an excellent correlation between the grain misorientation and the corresponding electrical resistivity across grain boundaries. In particular, the charge transport across GBs was greatly enhanced after the wafers were properly treated in our polar molecule solutions. The results were explained to be due to the more effective charge neutralization and passivation of polar molecules on localized charges at GBs. These findings may help us achieve high-quality materials at low cost for high-efficiency solar cells by improving the carrier transport and minimizing the carrier recombination. We also believe that this study will help us with a deeper understanding on GBs and their behaviors for the applications not only in photovoltaics, but also in other solid-state devices such as thin-film transistors. © 2012 IEEE.
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version
dc.description.otherThe 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Austin Cenvention Centre, Austin, Texas, USA, 3-8 June 2012. In Conference Record, 2012, p. 001144 - 001148
dc.identifier.citationThe 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Austin Cenvention Centre, Austin, Texas, USA, 3-8 June 2012. In Conference Record, 2012, p. 001144 - 001148 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317804
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317804
dc.identifier.epage001148
dc.identifier.hkuros210400
dc.identifier.issn0160-8371
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.035
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-84869408702
dc.identifier.spage001144
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/166909
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherIEEE.
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.relation.ispartofIEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. Conference Record
dc.rightsIEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. Conference Record. Copyright © IEEE.
dc.rights©2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
dc.rightsCreative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License
dc.subjectGrain boundaries
dc.subjectPhotovoltaic cells
dc.subjectSilicon
dc.subjectPassivation
dc.subjectConductivity
dc.titleSilicon grain boundary passivation for photovoltaics: a novel approach with small polar molecules
dc.typeConference_Paper
Author Affiliations
  1. The University of Hong Kong
  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory