Concentration and penetration depth of H introduced into crystalline Si by hydrogenation methods used to fabricate solar cells

The hydrogenation of crystalline Si by methods used to passivate defects in Si solar cells has been studied by infrared spectroscopy. For these experiments, floating-zone Si that contained Pt impurities that act as traps for H was used as a model system in which H could be directly detected. In this model system, the concentration and indiffusion depth of H were determined for different hydrogenation treatments so that their effectiveness could be compared. The postdeposition annealing of a hydrogen-rich SiNx surface layer was found to introduce H into the Si bulk with a concentration of similar to 10(15) cm(-3) under the best conditions investigated here. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.