Light Trapping by Periodically Structured TCO in the Submicrometer Range

2000 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Eisele ◽  
Christoph E. Nebel ◽  
Martin Stutzmann
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Diffraction Order ◽  
Hydrogenated Silicon ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon ◽  
Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide

ABSTRACTAmorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells need efficient light trapping structures to achieve high efficiency. To this end, aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) as a transparent front contact was periodically structured. Solar cells with grating periods between 390 and 980 nm were realized. The structures were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and optical reflection. A simple formula for the wavelength where total internal reflection starts is deduced for each diffraction order. Solar cells with a periodic grating show a significant reduction in the overall reflectance which is comparable to cells with an optimized statistical texture.

Characterization and Optimization of The Tco/a-Si:H(,B) Interface for Solar Cells by In-Situ Ellipsometry and Sims/XPS Depth Profiling

1994 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.N. Wanka ◽  
E. Lotter ◽  
M.B. Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Hydrogen Plasma ◽  
Depth Profiling ◽  
Trapping Efficiency ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Hydrogen Plasmas ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
20 Nm

ABSTRACTThe chemical reactions at the surface of transparent conductive oxides (SnO2, ITO and ZnO) have been studied in silane and hydrogen plasmas by in-situ ellipsometry and by SIMS as well as XPS depth profiling. SIMS and XPS of the interface reveal an increasing amount of metallic phases upon lowering a-Si:H growth rates (controlled by plasma power), indicating that the ion and radical impact is more than compensated by protecting the surface by a rapidly growing a-Si:H film. Hence, optical transmission of TCO films as well as the efficiency of solar cells can be improved if the first few nanometers of the p-layer are grown at higher rates. Comparing a-Si:H deposition on top of different TCOs, reduction effects on ITO and SnO2 have been detected whereas ZnO appeared to be chemically stable. Therefore an additional shielding of the SnO2 surface by a thin ZnO layer has been investigated in greater detail. Small amounts of H are detected close to the ZnO surface by SIMS after hydrogen plasma treatment, but no significant changes occur to the optical and electrical properties. In-situ ellipsometry indicates that a ZnO layer as thin as 20 nm completely protects SnO2 from being reduced to metallic phases. This provides for shielding of textured TCOs, and hence rising solar cell efficiencies, too. Regarding light trapping efficiency we additionally investigated the smoothing of initial TCO texture when growing a-Si:H on top by combining atomic force microscopy and spectroscopie ellipsometry.

Photocurrent Mapping in High-Efficiency Radial p–n Junction Silicon Nanowire Solar Cells Using Atomic Force Microscopy

2011 ◽  
Vol 115 (44) ◽  
pp. 21981-21986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jih-Shang Hwang ◽  
Ming-Chun Kao ◽  
Jian-Min Shiu ◽  
Chieh-Ning Fan ◽  
Shien-Chau Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Silicon Nanowire ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force

Electroluminescence mapping of CuGaSe2 solar cells by atomic force microscopy

2006 ◽  
Vol 89 (14) ◽  
pp. 143120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel J. Romero ◽  
C.-S. Jiang ◽  
J. Abushama ◽  
H. R. Moutinho ◽  
M. M. Al-Jassim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force

Tuning the Optoelectronic Properties of ZnO:Al by Addition of Silica for Light Trapping in High-Efficiency Crystalline Si Solar Cells

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1500462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Dabirian ◽  
Silvia Martin de Nicolas ◽  
Bjoern Niesen ◽  
Aïcha Hessler-Wyser ◽  
Stefaan De Wolf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Optoelectronic Properties ◽  
Si Solar Cells

Imaging Electron Transport across Grain Boundaries in an Integrated Electron and Atomic Force Microscopy Platform: Application to Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cells

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel J Romero ◽  
Fude Liu ◽  
Oliver Kunz ◽  
Johnson Wong ◽  
Chun-Sheng Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Electron Transport ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force

AbstractWe have investigated the local electron transport in polycrystalline silicon (pc-Si) thin-films by atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based measurements of the electron-beam-induced current (EBIC). EVA solar cells are produced at UNSW by <i>EVAporation</i> of a-Si and subsequent <i>solid-phase crystallization</i>–a potentially cost-effective approach to the production of pc-Si photovoltaics. A fundamental understanding of the electron transport in these pc-Si thin films is of prime importance to address the factors limiting the efficiency of EVA solar cells. EBIC measurements performed in combination with an AFM integrated inside an electron microscope can resolve the electron transport across individual grain boundaries. AFM-EBIC reveals that most grain boundaries present a high energy barrier to the transport of electrons for both p-type and n-type EVA thin-films. Furthermore, for p-type EVA pc-Si, in contrast with n-type, charged grain boundaries are seen. Recombination at grain boundaries seems to be the dominant factor limiting the efficiency of these pc-Si solar cells.

Growth of Thin μc-Si:H on Intrinsic a-Si:H for Solar Cells Application

1996 ◽  
Vol 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Pemet ◽  
M. Goetz ◽  
H. Keppner ◽  
A. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Hydrogenated Silicon ◽  
Boron Doped ◽  
High Efficiency Solar Cells ◽  
Amorphous Substrates ◽  
Interface Treatment

AbstractThe <p> μc-SiC:H / <i> a-Si:H junction can be considered to be a sub-system of a n/i/p solar cell. Optimised performance of this junction can be assumed to be a key feature for obtaining high efficiency solar cells.In this paper the authors present results on the conductivity of boron doped microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon (<p> μc-Si:H) thin films deposited on amorphous substrates (e.g. glass or glass/<i> a-Si:H). It is shown that, without any treatment of the substrate or of the underlying surface, the <p> layers showed a strongly reduced conductivity. This indicates either a bad nucleation or a poor microcrystalline behaviour. By using an appropriate surface treatment of the substrate, a gain in photoconductivity of about three orders of magnitude could be obtained (σ > 3 S/cm at a layer thickness of 400Å). We conclude from this, that for thin <p> type μc-Si:H layers the nucleation conditions are essential for obtaining best electric properties of the film w.r.t. solar cell performance.Based on these results, interface treatment was successfully implemented in n/i/p solar cells deposited on TCO coated glass and stainless steel. The results of these experiments are also presented.

Progress on high performance multijunction amorphous hydrogenated silicon alloy based solar cells and modules

Solar Cells ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Catalano ◽  
R.R. Arya ◽  
M. Bennett ◽  
L. Yang ◽  
Y. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Hydrogenated Silicon ◽  
Silicon Alloy ◽  
Amorphous Hydrogenated Silicon
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