A stratification phenomenon of aluminum rear alloyed layer was found in the study of aluminum rear emitter N-type solar cells. It is related to the composition of the paste. The outer aluminum alloyed layer can be called as aluminum doped emitter, and it gives the contribution to the junction formation. The inner layer is only the Al/Si mixed layer. The aluminum atoms in this layer are not bonded with silicon atoms. This inner layer will ruin the quality of the rear junction. The shunt resistance, reverse current density and the junction electric leakage value are getting worse when the thickness of the inner layer increases. The thickness of the inner Al/Si mixed layer increases with the increasing of firing temperature, while the depth of the aluminum doped emitter almost does not change. From the analyses, the inner Al/Si mixed layer is redundant and deleterious. Only a single deep aluminum doped rear emitter is needed for N-type solar cells. The highest power conversion efficiency of 19.93% for aluminum rear emitter N-type cells without the stratification phenomenon has been obtained. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.