Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge

Highly passivating, hole selective contacts are required for future high efficiency silicon solar cells. This work investigates selected dielectrics as potential SiOx replacements to act as hole selective contacts. AlOx and SiNx were identified as good candidates due to their low valence band offset...

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Main Authors: Mcnab, S, Yu, M, Al-Dhahir, I, Khorani, E, Rahman, T, Boden, SA, Altermatt, PP, Wilshaw, PR, Bonilla, RS
Format: Conference item
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing 2022
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author Mcnab, S
Yu, M
Al-Dhahir, I
Khorani, E
Rahman, T
Boden, SA
Altermatt, PP
Wilshaw, PR
Bonilla, RS
author_facet Mcnab, S
Yu, M
Al-Dhahir, I
Khorani, E
Rahman, T
Boden, SA
Altermatt, PP
Wilshaw, PR
Bonilla, RS
author_sort Mcnab, S
collection OXFORD
description Highly passivating, hole selective contacts are required for future high efficiency silicon solar cells. This work investigates selected dielectrics as potential SiOx replacements to act as hole selective contacts. AlOx and SiNx were identified as good candidates due to their low valence band offsets to silicon and proven surface passivation capabilities. Simulated J-V curves show AlOx and SiNx maintain acceptable contact resistivities at thicknesses below 1.4 and 1.7 nm, respectively. The SiOx hole contact was found to become extremely resistive even at thicknesses <1 nm, suggesting that either pinholes dominate conduction, or the band offset parameters differ from those in real TOPCon structures. The passivation of the dielectrics was also simulated, with SiOx outperforming both AlOx and SiNx primarily due to the excellent interface. Additionally, the effect of nanolayer built in charge was investigated. Charges below 1012 q/cm2 were found to have little effect, while negative charges above 1012 q/cm2 resulted in reductions in the contact resistivity and recombination current. The calculated selectivity for a 1.4 nm layer of AlOx was 12.9, while a value of 13.8 was calculated for SiNx at typical intrinsic charge levels.
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spelling oxford-uuid:3adf7ad8-7c7c-4825-a065-dac25b32d83e2023-01-18T09:56:58ZAlternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in chargeConference itemhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794uuid:3adf7ad8-7c7c-4825-a065-dac25b32d83eEnglishSymplectic ElementsAIP Publishing2022Mcnab, SYu, MAl-Dhahir, IKhorani, ERahman, TBoden, SAAltermatt, PPWilshaw, PRBonilla, RSHighly passivating, hole selective contacts are required for future high efficiency silicon solar cells. This work investigates selected dielectrics as potential SiOx replacements to act as hole selective contacts. AlOx and SiNx were identified as good candidates due to their low valence band offsets to silicon and proven surface passivation capabilities. Simulated J-V curves show AlOx and SiNx maintain acceptable contact resistivities at thicknesses below 1.4 and 1.7 nm, respectively. The SiOx hole contact was found to become extremely resistive even at thicknesses <1 nm, suggesting that either pinholes dominate conduction, or the band offset parameters differ from those in real TOPCon structures. The passivation of the dielectrics was also simulated, with SiOx outperforming both AlOx and SiNx primarily due to the excellent interface. Additionally, the effect of nanolayer built in charge was investigated. Charges below 1012 q/cm2 were found to have little effect, while negative charges above 1012 q/cm2 resulted in reductions in the contact resistivity and recombination current. The calculated selectivity for a 1.4 nm layer of AlOx was 12.9, while a value of 13.8 was calculated for SiNx at typical intrinsic charge levels.
spellingShingle Mcnab, S
Yu, M
Al-Dhahir, I
Khorani, E
Rahman, T
Boden, SA
Altermatt, PP
Wilshaw, PR
Bonilla, RS
Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title_full Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title_fullStr Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title_full_unstemmed Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title_short Alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built-in charge
title_sort alternative dielectrics for hole selective passivating contacts and the influence of nanolayer built in charge
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