Stability of a-Si : H solar cells deposited by Ar-treatment or by ECR techniques

Ohkawa K; Shimizu S; Sato H; Komaru T; Futako W; Kamiya T; Fortmann CM; Shimizu I

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol.66, No.1-4, 297-303, 2001

DOI10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00187-2 Export Citation

Stability of a-Si : H solar cells deposited by Ar-treatment or by ECR techniques

Ohkawa K, Shimizu S, Sato H, Komaru T, Futako W, Kamiya T, Fortmann CM, Shimizu I

Stability against light soaking was studied for amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells using three different i-layers; (a) device-quality a-Si:H (standard a-Si:H) with bandgap of 1.75 eV, (b) narrow bandgap (1.55eV) a-Si:H fabricated by Ar* chemical annealing and (c) a-Si:H(Cl) fabricated from SiH2Cl2. Both the narrow bandgap a-Si:H and the a-Si:H(Cl) solar cells showed much improved stability than that of the standard a-Si:H solar cells: e.g., fill factor of the narrow bandgap a-Si:H cell only slightly decreased from 56% to 53%, while that of the standard a-Si:H cell degraded from 62% to 51%. In addition, mobility-lifetime products of the a-Si:H(Cl) cell also exhibited improved stability than that of the standard a-Si:H solar cell. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:stability against light soaking;Ar* chemical annealing;narrow bandgap amorphous silicon;electron cyclotron resonance hydrogen plasma;SiH2Cl2