The Effects of Varied Deposition Conditions, Including the Use of Argon, on Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells Prepared using PECVD

Abstract

This paper reports the effects of varied deposition conditions on the resultant energy conversion efficiencies of thin-film silicon solar cells. Cells were deposited using an Oxford Instruments PlasmaLab System 100 on to Pilkington TEC-8 TCO glass, and thoroughly investigated using electrical methods. Thin film devices were fabricated using the decomposition of silane gas within a reaction chamber of 13.56 MHz plasma discharge. The deposition conditions, including substrate temperature, gas flow rates, RF power, chamber pressure, and film thickness are all explored to determine the optimum cell performance. A view toward high-efficiency solar structures, including heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) and micro-morph cell designs using the same conditions is presented.

Keywords:

• Amorphous
• HIT
• micro-morph
• PECVD

Acknowledgment

This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.