Argon plasma treatment of silicon nitride (SiN) for improved antireflection coating on c-Si solar cells.
11 November 2017
Abstract
Antireflection properties of argon plasma treated silicon nitride layer and its effect on crystalline silicon solar cell is presented here. Hydrogenated silicon nitride (a-SiN:H) layer has been deposited on a silicon substrate by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) using a mixture of silane (SiH4), ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen (H2) gases followed by a argon plasma treatment.
Optical analysis reveals a significant reduction in reflectance after argon plasma treatment of silicon nitride layer. While FESEM shows nanostructures on the surface of the silicon nitride film, FTIR reveals a change in SiN, SiO and NH bonds. On the other hand, ellipsometry shows the variation of refractive index and formation of double layer. Finally, a c-Si solar cell has been fabricated with the said anti-reflection coating. External quantum efficiency reveals a relative increase of 2.72% in the short circuit current density and 4.46% in conversion efficiency over a baseline efficiency of 16.58%.
Citation
Ghosh, H., Mitra, S., Saha, H., Datta, S.K. and Banerjee, C., 2017. Argon plasma treatment of silicon nitride (SiN) for improved antireflection coating on c-Si solar cells. Materials Science and Engineering: B, 215, pp.29-36.
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Category: Solar & Photovoltaics