Solar cell emitters fabricated by PIII and flash lamp millisecond annealing


Solar cell emitters fabricated by PIII and flash lamp millisecond annealing

Prucnal, S.; Endler, R.; Henke, D.; Kolitsch, A.; Abendroth, B.; Krockert, K.; König, K.; Möller, H. J.; Skorupa, W.

Cost reduction is the overall goal in the further development of solar cell technologies. Multicrystalline silicon has attracted considerable attention because of its high stability against light soaking. In case of Solar Grade (SoG) mc-Si the rigorous control of metal impurities is desirable for solar cell fabrication. The main source of degradation of the photovoltaic effect in p-type mc-Si is iron present as interstitials (Fei) and Fe-B pairs. Processing solar cells at lower temperatures helps reducing the energy cost and in thin film technologies may also facilitate the use of less temperature stable substrates such as normal glass or polymers foils. In the present work a new technique will be presented and explored, which allows the implantation of the doping element by a plasma process and the subsequent annealing by a short time light pulse (Flash Lamp Annealing). Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) technique can be used for the emitter formation of solar cells. It is much easier to handle and has the potential for mass production. A dedicated PIII - machine has been built suitable for the implantation of doping impurities into silicon.
The phosphorous implanted and annealed SoG mc-Si wafers were characterised by means of μ-Raman spectroscopy, temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL), surface photo-voltage method (SPV) and four-point probe resistor measurements. It could be demonstrated that FLA at 1000°C for 3 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallize implanted silicon and to electrically activate the phosphorous. The sheet resistance (SR) of FLA samples shows values of about 40 μ/sq. Moreover, the minority carrier diffusion length for the FLA samples is in the range of 80 m. This is up to one order of magnitude higher than that observed from RTA or FA samples.

Keywords: Raman spectroscopy; photoluminescence; FLA; mc-Si

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Publ.-Id: 16322