Dissolution of electrically inactive phosphorus by low temperature annealing
In this study we investigate the dissolution of electrically inactive phosphorus complexes by low temperature annealing after the POCl3 diffusion process. This has the immediate consequence that the existing near-surface emitter volume SRH recombination can be reduced. Thereby, a significant reduction of emitter saturation current density j0E is achieved without driving the emitter further into the silicon substrate. For short-term temperature treatments well below the POCl3 diffusion temperature, a reduction of up to -60 fA/cm2 has been achieved. This study increases our understanding of the formation and dissolution of electrically inactive phosphorus complexes during post-annealing processes.
Relationships between Diffusion Parameters and Phosphorus Precipitation during the POCl3 Diffusion Process
Abstract The POCl3 diffusion process is still a common way to create the pn-junction of Si solar cells. Concerning the screen- printing process, it is necessary to find a compromise between low emitter recombination, low contact resistance and high lateral conductivity. The formation of a homogeneous emitter during the POCl3 diffusion process depends on several diffusion parameters, including duration, temperature and gas flow. This primarily controls the growth of the highly doped phosphosilicate glass (PSG) layer, which acts as a dopant source during the diffusion process. Detailed investigations of the PSG layer have shown a distinct correlation between the process gas flows and the composition of the PSG layer. Specifically, in this research we examine the influence of phosphorus precipitation at the PSG/Si interface. Furthermore, we show the influence of phosphorus precipitation during the pre-deposition phase on the passivation quality of the corresponding emitter. In a second step, we use the results to create emitters with a reduced density of phosphorus precipitates. In a last step, the optimized emitter structure was transferred to screen-printed solar cell processes, whereby efficiencies up to 19.4%abs. were achieved on monocrystalline p-type Cz material with full area Al-BSF rear side.
High concentration in-diffusion of phosphorus in Si from a spray-on source
High concentration in-diffusion of phosphorus in both Czochralski grown and solar grade multicrystalline Si from a spray-on liquid source has been studied by secondary ion mass spectrometry and electrochemical capacitance-voltage profiling. By extraction of the concentration dependent effective diffusivity employing the Boltzmann-Matano analysis, we adapt an integrated diffusion model based on a previous work by Uematsu [J. Appl. Phys. 82, 2228 (1997)], in order to gain insight into the mechanisms governing such in-diffusions. We find that in the tail region of the profiles, diffusion is mediated by interaction with Si self-interstitials, whereas a vacancy mechanism via doubly negative vacancies dominates in the higher concentration region towards the surface, in correspondence with a previous analysis by Fair and Tsai [J. Electrochem. Soc. 124, 1107 (1977)]. Moreover, we find that both the vacancy and interstitial mechanisms can be described by an Arrhenius behavior, exhibiting apparent activation energi...