Effects of the compensation level on the carrier lifetime of crystalline silicon

Abstract

This study focuses on the evolution of the carrier lifetime with the compensation level in crystalline silicon. Especially we show that an increase in the compensation level reduces the recombination strength of doping species and of some metal impurities. These theoretical results are confirmed by the chemical and electrical characterizations of strongly compensated multicrystalline silicon wafers. These results are of paramount importance since an accurate control of the compensation level can lead to strong improvements in silicon solar cells efficiencies.