The fundamental operation mechanisms of nc-SiO_X≥0:H based tunnel recombination junctions revealed

The fundamental operation mechanisms of nc-SiO_X≥0:H based tunnel recombination junctions revealed

de Vrijer, T. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)
van Nijen, D.A. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)
Parasramka, Harsh (Student TU Delft)
Procel Moya, P.A. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices; Universidad San Francisco de Quito)
Zhao, Y. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)
Isabella, O. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)
Smets, A.H.M. (TU Delft Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

2022

Two terminal multi-junction (MJ) photovoltaic (PV) devices are well established concepts to increase the solar-to-electrical power conversion in reference to single PV junctions. In multi-junction PV devices two consecutive sub-cells are interconnected using a tunnel recombination junction (TRJ) in which the light excited holes of one sub-cell recombine with the light excited electrons of the other sub cell. An ideal TRJ is an ohmic contact with non-rectifying behaviour. TRJ's based on p- and n-doped silicon-oxides have been successfully applied in a variety of hybrid multi-junction PV devices in which tunnelling and trap-assisted tunnelling over width of 5–20 nm rules the TRJ's recombination kinetics. In this contribution the qualitative fundamental working principles of tunnel recombination junctions based on p- and n-doped silicon and silicon-oxide alloys are revealed using both electrical modelling and experiments based on a unique set of tandem lab cells (four types based on four different PV materials) combined with structural variations in TRJ architectures. The study results in design rules for the integration of silicon-oxide based TRJ's and provides fundamental insights into the sensitivity of the electrical performance of the TRJ's to doping concentrations, to alignment of the conduction and valence bands of consecutive sub-cells, to the nature of interface defects, to the growth of amorphous and crystalline phases and its dependence on substrate or seed layers and to the nanoscale thicknesses of the TRJ layers.

Amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon germanium
Multijunction
Nano-crystalline silicon
Silicon heterojunction
Tandem PV
Thin film silicon
Tunnel recombination junction

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:99190b03-de6d-42da-9188-337e61b9e3b5

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111501

0927-0248

Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, 236

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 T. de Vrijer, D.A. van Nijen, Harsh Parasramka, P.A. Procel Moya, Y. Zhao, O. Isabella, A.H.M. Smets