Thermal stability of amorphous silicon/silicon nitride stacks for passivating crystalline silicon solar cells

The thermal stability of amorphous silicon/silicon nitride double layer surface passivation of p-type and n(+)-type crystalline surfaces is investigated for different deposition temperatures of the silicon nitride capping layer. An increase from 300 to 400 degrees C results in a significant improvement of the thermal stability of the surface passivation. The minimum surface recombination velocity achieved on p-type (1.5 Omega cm) silicon wafers is 0.75 +/- 0.6 cm/s and remains at 10 +/- 0.5 cm/s after 30 min annealing at 500 degrees C. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3009571]