Silicon wafer solar cells continue to be the leading photovoltaic technology, and in many places are now providing a substantial portion of electricity generation. Further adoption of this technology will require processing that minimises losses in device performance. A fundamental mechanism for efficiency loss is the recombination of photo-generated charge carriers at the unavoidable cell surfaces. Dielectric coatings have been shown to largely prevent these losses through a combination of different passivation mechanisms. This review aims to provide an overview of the dielectric passivation coatings developed in the past two decades using a standardised methodology to characterise the metrics of surface recombination across all techniques and materials. The efficacy of a large set of materials and methods has been evaluated using such metrics and a discussion on the current state and prospects for further surface passivation improvements is provided.

/pdf/dielectric-surface-passivation-for-silicon-solar-cells-a-zv6y6fla1t.pdf

Dielectric surface passivation for silicon solar cells: A review

Taking monocrystalline silicon to the ultimate lifetime limit

The recombination of electric charge carriers at semiconductor surfaces continues to be a limiting factor in achieving high performance optoelectronic devices, including solar cells, laser diodes, and photodetectors. The theoretical model and a solution algorithm for surface recombination have been previously reported. However, their successful application to experimental data for a wide range of both minority excess carrier concentrations and dielectric fixed charge densities has not previously been shown. Here, a parametrisation for the semiconductor-dielectric interface charge Q i t is used in a Shockley-Read-Hall extended formalism to describe recombination at the c-Si/SiO2 interface, and estimate the physical parameters relating to the interface trap density D i t , and the electron and hole capture cross-sections σ n and σ p . This approach gives an excellent description of the experimental data without the need to invoke a surface damage region in the c-Si/SiO2 system. Band-gap tail states have b...

/pdf/on-the-c-si-sio2-interface-recombination-parameters-from-bxb1iw7e3h.pdf

On the c-Si/SiO2 interface recombination parameters from photo-conductance decay measurements

State-of-the-art passivation strategies of c-Si for photovoltaic applications: A review

Space weathering of iron sulfides in the lunar surface environment

Corona Charge in SiO2: Kinetics and Surface Passivation for High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells☆

Cation diffusion is an important rate-limiting process in the growth of pyrrhotite (Fe1−xS) in passivating films on steels exposed to sulfidic environments, and for proposed synthetic applications of Fe1−xS, for example single-phase magnetic switching devices. Above the Neel temperature TN of 315 °C, where Fe1−xS is paramagnetic and structurally disordered, iron self-diffusivity *DFe predictably follows a standard, established Arrhenius law with temperature. However, we report 57Fe tracer diffusion measurements below TN, obtained using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), that demonstrate a 100-fold reduction in diffusion coefficient as compared to the extrapolated, paramagnetic Arrhenius trend at 150 °C. The results can be described by a magnetic diffusion anomaly, where the vacancy migration energy for the spontaneously-magnetized cation sublattice is increased by approximately 40% over the paramagnetic state. These constitute the first set of consistent diffusivity data obtained in magnetic pyrrhotite, allowing more accurate prediction of pyrrhotite growth rates and determination of magnetic properties for synthetic devices.

Magnetic diffusion anomaly at the Néel temperature of pyrrhotite, Fe1−xS

A new technique is described by which ionic species can be rapidly transported into oxide films, and once there provide effective and stable field effect passivation to silicon surfaces. Field effect passivation in thermally grown oxide films has been achieved by embedding potassium ions using a combined drift and diffusion mechanism at high temperature. This process has been shown to be over 10 times faster than a pure diffusion process. The resulting passivation stable for periods exceeding 600 days, with lifetimes reaching 1.4 ms, equivalent to a surface recombination velocity (SRV) ≤ 5.7 cm/s, on 1 Ωcm, n-type, FZ-Si.

Stable, Extrinsic, Field Effect Passivation for Back Contact Silicon Solar Cells

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Corona Charge in SiO2: Kinetics and Surface Passivation for High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells☆

Magnetic diffusion anomaly at the Néel temperature of pyrrhotite, Fe1−xS

Stable, Extrinsic, Field Effect Passivation for Back Contact Silicon Solar Cells