Impact of phosphorus gettering parameters and initial iron level on silicon solar cell properties

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© 2012 Wiley-Blackwell. This is the post print version of the following article: Vähänissi, Ville & Haarahiltunen, Antti & Talvitie, Heli & Yli-Koski, Marko & Savin, Hele. 2012. Impact of phosphorus gettering parameters and initial iron level on silicon solar cell properties. Progress in Photovoltaics. Volume 21, Issue 5. 29. DOI: 10.1002/pip.2215, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pip.2215/full

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Volume Title

School of Electrical Engineering | A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2012

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Mcode

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Language

en

Pages

29

Series

Progress in Photovoltaics, Volume 21, Issue 5

Abstract

We have studied experimentally the effect of different initial iron contamination levels on the electrical device properties of p-type Czochralski-silicon solar cells. By systematically varying phosphorus diffusion gettering (PDG) parameters, we demonstrate a strong correlation between the open-circuit voltage (Voc) and the gettering efficiency. Similar correlation is also obtained for the short-circuit current (Jsc), but phosphorus dependency somewhat complicates the interpretation: the higher the phosphorus content not only the better the gettering efficiency but also the stronger the emitter recombination. With initial bulk iron concentration as high as 2 × 1014 cm−3, conversion efficiencies comparable with non-contaminated cells were obtained, which demonstrates the enormous potential of PDG. The results also clearly reveal the importance of well-designed PDG: to achieve best results, the gettering parameters used for high purity silicon should be chosen differently as compared with for a material with high impurity content. Finally we discuss the possibility of achieving efficient gettering without deteriorating the emitter performance by combining a selective emitter with a PDG treatment.

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Keywords

monocrystalline silicon, iron, phosphorus diffusion gettering, silicon solar cells

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Citation

Vähänissi, Ville & Haarahiltunen, Antti & Talvitie, Heli & Yli-Koski, Marko & Savin, Hele. 2012. Impact of phosphorus gettering parameters and initial iron level on silicon solar cell properties. Progress in Photovoltaics. Volume 21, Issue 5. 29. DOI: 10.1002/pip.2215.