The role of oxide interlayers in back reflector configurations for amorphous silicon solar cells

Thin oxide interlayers are commonly added to the back reflector of thin-film silicon solar cells to increase their current. To gain more insight in the enhancement mechanism, we tested different back reflector designs consisting of aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) and/or hydrogenated silicon oxide (SiOx:H) interlayers with different metals ...

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon: Nanostructure and defects

Since the first report on the fabrication of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) in 1965, this material has found many applications, for instance in the fabrication of solar cells, sensors and transistors. An especially notable example in the context of this thesis is thin-film silicon solar cells, which have attracted a lot of attention....

Migration of Open Volume Deficiencies in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon during Annealing

The nanostructure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is studied by means of doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy (DB-PAS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The evolution of open volume deficiencies is monitored during annealing, demonstrating that small vacancies and other small vacancy clusters that...

New insights into the nanostructure of innovative thin film solar cells gained by positron annihilation spectroscopy

Recent studies showed that positron annihilation methods can provide key insights into the nanostructure and electronic structure of thin film solar cells. In this study, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is applied to investigate CdSe quantum dot (QD) light absorbing layers, providing evidence of positron trapping at the...

Passivation Enhancement of Poly-Si Carrier-Selective Contacts by Applying ALD Al_2O_3 Capping Layers

Hydrogenation of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) passivating contacts is crucial for maximizing their passivation performance. This work presents the application of Al2O3 prepared by atomic layer deposition as a hydrogenating capping layer. Several important questions related to this application of Al2O3 are addressed by comparing results...