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Article
Microcrystalline Silicon Tunnel Junctions for Amorphous Silicon-Based Multijunction Solar Cells
The formation of tunnel junctions for applications in amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) based multijunction n-i-p solar cells has been studied using real time optics. The junction structure investigated in detail her...
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Article
Kinetics of Light-Induced Changes in P-I-N Cells with Protocrystalline Si:H
Studies have been carried out on the thickness dependent transition between the amorphous and microcrystalline phases in intrinsic Si:H materials (i-layers) and its effect on p-i-n solar cell performance [1]. ...
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Article
Real Time Characterization of Non-Ideal Surfaces and Thin Film Growth by Advanced Ellipsometric Spectroscopies
The development of multichannel ellipsometers with photodiode array-based detection systems has enabled real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), a technique now being used widely to study surface modificatio...
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Article
Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of the Solid Phase Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon
We have introduced real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) for characterization of the solid phase crystallization (SPC) of intrinsic and n-type amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films. RTSE has several adva...
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Article
Amorphous/Microcrystalline Phase Control in Silicon Film Deposition for Improved Solar Cell Performance
Real time optical studies have provided insights into the growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition as a f...
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Article
Nucleation of p-Type Microcrystalline Silicon on Amorphous Silicon for n-i-p Solar Cells Using B(CH3)3 And BF3 Dopant Source Gases
Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) has been applied to identify optimal conditions for the nucleation and growth of 120 Å microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) p-layers by rf plasma-enhanced chemical vap...
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Article
Characterization of Monolayer-Level Composition and Optical Gap Profiles in Amorphous Silicon-Carbon Alloy Bandgap-Modulated Structures
Over the past few years we have applied real time spectroscopie ellipsometry (RTSE) to characterize the structural, compositional, and optical gap profiles in continuously-graded amorphous silicon-carbon alloy...
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Article
Impact of Hydrogen Dilution on the Properties and Light Induced Changes of A-SI:H Based Materials and Solar Cells
Studies have been carried out on a-Si:H materials and corresponding solar cells fabricated with and without hydrogen dilution of silane by rf PECVD. The effect of hydrogen dilution on the growth kinetics and m...
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Article
Selfconsistent Analysis of Mobility-Lifetime Products and Subgap Absorption on Different PECVD A-SI:H Films
The photoconductivity and subband gap absorption measurements over a wide range of generation rate(G) have been carried out ondiluted and undiluted a-Si:H films. It is found that in these high quality films th...
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Article
Structural and Optical Properties of a-Si:H/μc-Si:H:B Junctions in the a-Si:H-Based n-i-P Solar Cell Configuration
We have extended previous real time spectroscopie ellipsometry (RTSE) capabilities in order to investigate the effects of H2-plasma treatment of i-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) on the deposition of...
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Article
The Light Induced Changes in A-Si: H Materials and Solar Cells-Where We are Now
The quest for understanding and especially controlling the reversible light induced changes in a-Si:H based materials has been ongoing for the last twenty years. This has been accompanied by a corresponding la...
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Article
Nucleation and Growth of μc-Si:H n- and p-Type Layers in a-Si:H p-i-n and n-i-p Solar Cells: Real Time Spectroellipsometry Studies
We have applied real time spectroellipsometry (RTSE) to study the growth of microcrystalline silicon n- and p-layers [μc-Si:H:(P,B)] incorporated into amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) p-i-n and n-i-p solar cells, re...
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Article
Advances in the Characterization of Compositionally-Graded Layers in Amorphous Semiconductor Solar Cells by Real Time Spectroellipsometry
We have developed a real time spectroellipsometry data analysis procedure that allows us to characterize compositionally-graded amorphous semiconductor alloy thin films prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vap...
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Article
Real Time Monitoring of Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell Fabrication
We have applied real time spectroscopie ellipsometry (RTSE) to monitor the successive growth of p-type a-Si1-xCx:H and i-type a-Si:H on specular SnO2:F (i.e., the superstrate solar cell configuration) in a single...
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Article
Effect of White and Red Light Illumination on the Degradation of a-Si:H Solar Cells
Structures were carried out on the degradation of heterojunction and homojunction a-Si:H solar cells, using Xenon arc and tungsten halogen light sources. The degradations were carried out with both white and r...
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Article
Analysis of Non-Uniform Creation of Light-Induced Defects in Schottky Barrier Solar Cell Structures
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) TCO/n+/i/Ni Schottky barrier solar cells were degraded with illuminations of white and red light through both sides of the structure. Because the forward dark I-V’s are sen...
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Article
The Staebler-Wronski Effect and the Thermal Equilibration of Defect and Carrier Concentrations
Light induced degradation of intrinsic Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is investigated as a function of temperature. Previous work described an equilibrium framework for the high temperature behavior of dangling bo...
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Article
Charged Defect State Distributions Obtained from the Analysis of Photoconductivities in Intrinsic a-Si:H Films
Steady-state photoconductivity, sub-bandgap absorption and electron spin resonance (ESR) Measurements were carried out on annealed and light soaked intrinsic hydrogenated Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films. The ...
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Article
Process-Property Relationships For a-Si1-xCx:H Deposition: Excursions in Parameter Space Guided by Real Time Spectroellipsometry
Real time spectroellipsometry (RTSE) has been applied to study the growth of a-Si1-xCx:H alloys (x~0.1; Eg=1.90-2.00 eV) for applications as i- and p-type layers in wide band gap solar cells. Two important materi...
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Article
Effect of Gas Phase Hydrogen-Dilution on the Nucleation, Growth, and Interfaces of a-Si1-xCx:H
The microstructural evolution of a-Si1−xCx:H with an optical gap of 1.95 eV, prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), has been studied versus gas phase H2-dilution by real time spectroscopic...