Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices
<p><p>The power conversion efficiency of solar cells is strongly impacted by an unwanted loss of charge carriers occurring at semiconductor surfaces and interfaces. Here the use of ion-charged oxide nanolayers to enhance the passivation of silicon surfaces via the field effect mechanism...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023
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| _version_ | 1797110416757751808 |
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| author | Al‐Dhahir, I Niu, X Yu, M McNab, S Lin, Y Altermatt, PP Patrick, CE Bonilla, RS |
| author_facet | Al‐Dhahir, I Niu, X Yu, M McNab, S Lin, Y Altermatt, PP Patrick, CE Bonilla, RS |
| author_sort | Al‐Dhahir, I |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p><p>The power conversion efficiency of solar cells is strongly impacted by an unwanted loss of charge carriers occurring at semiconductor surfaces and interfaces. Here the use of ion-charged oxide nanolayers to enhance the passivation of silicon surfaces via the field effect mechanism is reported. The first report of enhanced passivation from rubidium and cesium ion-charged oxide nanolayers is provided. The charge state and formation energy of ion-charged silicon dioxide are calculated from first principles. Ion embedding is demonstrated and exploited to control the interface population of carriers and minimize electron-hole pair recombination. The passivation quality directly improves with charge concentration, yet excess ions can produce detrimental interface states. An optimal ionic charge concentration of ≈1.5 × 10<sup>12</sup> q cm<sup>−2</sup> is deduced, and a recombination velocity and current density as low as 2.8 cm s<sup>−1</sup> and 7.8 fA cm<sup>−2</sup> are achieved at the Si-SiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Maximized charge is shown to provide efficiency improvements as high as 0.7% absolute. This work provides a unique route to enhance passivation without compromising the film synthesis, thus retaining the antireflection and hydrogenation film properties. As such, ion-charged dielectrics provide complementary paths for surface and interface optimization in future single-junction and tandem solar cells.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:54:33Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:71ffd06b-833b-4952-a061-90d2ee9d5c49 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:54:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:71ffd06b-833b-4952-a061-90d2ee9d5c492023-08-07T12:27:06ZIon‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devicesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:71ffd06b-833b-4952-a061-90d2ee9d5c49EnglishSymplectic ElementsWiley2023Al‐Dhahir, INiu, XYu, MMcNab, SLin, YAltermatt, PPPatrick, CEBonilla, RS<p><p>The power conversion efficiency of solar cells is strongly impacted by an unwanted loss of charge carriers occurring at semiconductor surfaces and interfaces. Here the use of ion-charged oxide nanolayers to enhance the passivation of silicon surfaces via the field effect mechanism is reported. The first report of enhanced passivation from rubidium and cesium ion-charged oxide nanolayers is provided. The charge state and formation energy of ion-charged silicon dioxide are calculated from first principles. Ion embedding is demonstrated and exploited to control the interface population of carriers and minimize electron-hole pair recombination. The passivation quality directly improves with charge concentration, yet excess ions can produce detrimental interface states. An optimal ionic charge concentration of ≈1.5 × 10<sup>12</sup> q cm<sup>−2</sup> is deduced, and a recombination velocity and current density as low as 2.8 cm s<sup>−1</sup> and 7.8 fA cm<sup>−2</sup> are achieved at the Si-SiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Maximized charge is shown to provide efficiency improvements as high as 0.7% absolute. This work provides a unique route to enhance passivation without compromising the film synthesis, thus retaining the antireflection and hydrogenation film properties. As such, ion-charged dielectrics provide complementary paths for surface and interface optimization in future single-junction and tandem solar cells.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Al‐Dhahir, I Niu, X Yu, M McNab, S Lin, Y Altermatt, PP Patrick, CE Bonilla, RS Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title | Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title_full | Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title_fullStr | Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title_short | Ion‐charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
| title_sort | ion charged dielectric nanolayers for enhanced surface passivation in high efficiency photovoltaic devices |
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