Enhanced Si Passivation and PERC Solar Cell Efficiency by Atomic Layer Deposited Aluminum Oxide with Two-step Post Annealing

• Main Authors: Chia-Hsun Hsu, Yun-Shao Cho, Wan-Yu Wu, Shui-Yang Lien, Xiao-Ying Zhang, Wen-Zhang Zhu, Sam Zhang, Song-Yan Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2019-04-01
• Series: Nanoscale Research Letters
• Subjects: Passivated emitter and rear cell; Aluminum oxide; Atomic layer deposition; Passivation; Two-step annealing
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-019-2969-z
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 1556-276X

Abstract In this study, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) films were prepared by a spatial atomic layer deposition using deionized water and trimethylaluminum, followed by oxygen (O2), forming gas (FG), or two-step annealing. Minority carrier lifetime of the samples was measured by Sinton WCT-120. Field-effect passivation and chemical passivation were evaluated by fixed oxide charge (Q f) and interface defect density (D it), respectively, using capacitance-voltage measurement. The results show that O2 annealing gives a high Q f of − 3.9 × 1012 cm−2, whereas FG annealing leads to excellent Si interface hydrogenation with a low D it of 3.7 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2. Based on the consideration of the best field-effect passivation brought by oxygen annealing and the best chemical passivation brought by forming gas, the two-step annealing process was optimized. It is verified that the Al2O3 film annealed sequentially in oxygen and then in forming gas exhibits a high Q f (2.4 × 1012 cm−2) and a low D it (3.1 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2), yielding the best minority carrier lifetime of 1097 μs. The SiNx/Al2O3 passivation stack with two-step annealing has a lifetime of 2072 μs, close to the intrinsic lifetime limit. Finally, the passivated emitter and rear cell conversion efficiency was improved from 21.61% by using an industry annealing process to 21.97% by using the two-step annealing process.