Conversion efficiency and process stability improvement of electron beam crystallized thin film silicon solar cells on glass

Liquid phase crystallization (LPC) using e-beam or CW-laser line sources of amorphous or nanocrystalline silicon films has emerged as new method to form high quality absorbers on cheap substrates. A disadvantage of electron beam crystallization was the necessity to use amorphous SiCx layers in contact with the silicon to maintain a stable crystallization process, resulting in high surface recombination. In this work we investigate capping layers to enable e-beam induced LPC on alternative interlayer materials especially SiO2 and characterize the morphological and electrical properties of these layer stacks. Photoluminescence measurements of LPC absorbers on SiO2 layers exhibit significantly increased radiative recombination compared to SiCx. Fabricated hetero-junction cells achieved a new emitter area efficiency record for electron beam induced LPC solar cells of 9% using the FrontERA contact system and H passivation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.