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A detailed study of industrially compatible, cost-effective and convenient texturization in large area diamond cut n-type C-Si

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Abstract

Texturization of diamond cut crystalline silicon wafer faces a great difficulty due to the presence of deep saw marks on all over the wafer surface, which limits the ultimate efficiency enhancement of solar cell. Conventional slurry cut silicon anisotropic texturization is carried out by saw damage removal step with NaOH aqueous solution followed by etching with potassium hydroxide (KOH)-isopropyl alcohol (IPA) but textural result is not satisfactory after adopting diamond cut silicon texturization in conventional way. The non-uniform pyramidal surface has been observed with noticeable spots. Surface texturization of diamond cut silicon wafer has been improved after introducing a new method. Adding little amount of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) along with KOH-IPA solution and excluding the saw damage removal step creates better textural result in 20 min compared to conventional texturization method. Minimum reflectance is observed at 9.88%, whereas conventional method provides above 16% reflectance. Batch compatibility test also provides uniform texturization result up to batch 6, after which the pyramidal angle gets tilted to 4.07 degree resulting increase in reflectance to 12%. Optimizing the chemical solution exhibits excellent anisotropic etching, which eventually improves silicon nanograss solar cell performance. About 14% efficiency is found for conventional texturization in diamond cut wafers, while 18.5% efficiency with 72% yield is found for our proposed method.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the SERI,DST, Govt. of India for financial support for carrying out solar cell-related research activity. The authors deeply acknowledge Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology, TIG and IIEST, Shibpur provides the infrastructural support for carrying out research activity in this area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CARREST, Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology, Nazirabad, Uchhepota, Via-Sonarpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700150, India

    Soma Ray & Utpal Gangopadhyay

  2. Centre of Excellence for Green Energy and Sensor Systems, IIEST, Shibpur, Howrah, 711103, India

    Soma Ray & Anup Mondal

  3. Departments of Chemistry, IIEST, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, 711103, India

    Anup Mondal

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  1. Soma Ray
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Correspondence to Soma Ray or Utpal Gangopadhyay.

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Ray, S., Mondal, A. & Gangopadhyay, U. A detailed study of industrially compatible, cost-effective and convenient texturization in large area diamond cut n-type C-Si. J Mater Sci 57, 16725–16738 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07600-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07600-2

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