Photoinjected hot-electron damage in silicon point-contact solar cells

Abstract

Initial designs of single-crystal silicon point-contact solar cells have shown a degradation in their efficiency after being exposed to concentrated sunlight. The main mechanism appears to be an increase in recombination centers at the Si/SiO2 interface due to ultraviolet light photoinjecting electrons from the silicon conduction band into the silicon dioxide that passivates the cell’s front surface. The instability of the interface is significantly worse if the oxide is grown in the presence of trichloroethane. Texturization of the surface also leads to more instability. A reasonably good resistance to ultraviolet can be created by putting a phosphorus diffusion at the surface, and can be improved further by stripping off the deposited oxide after the diffusion and regrowing a dry thermal oxide.