Development of a-SiO_x:H/a-Si_(1-x)Ge_x:H Tandem Solar Cell for Triple-Junction Solar Cell Applications

摘要

In this work, the development of hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO_x:H) absorber, a-SiO_x:H single-junction solar cells and a-SiO_x:H/a-Si_(1-x)Ge_x:H tandem solar cells were presented. The oxygen content of the a-SiO_x:H materials controlled by changing CO_2-to-SiH_4 flow ratio had significant influence on its opto-electrical property. As CO_2/SiH_4 increased from 0 to 2, the bandgap increased from 1.75 to 2.13 eV while the photo-conductivity decreased from 8.25×10~(-6) to 1.02×10~(-8) S/cm. Photo-response of over 105 can be obtained as the bandgap was approximately 1.90 eV. The performance of single-junction solar cells revealed a better efficiency can be obtained as the absorber bandgap was in the range of 1.83 to 1.90 eV. Further increase of the absorber bandgap may lead to the increase in bulk defect density which deteriorated the cell efficiency. Finally, a-SiO_x:H/a-Si_(1-x)Ge_x:H tandem solar cell was fabricated with the absorber bandgap of 1.90 eV in the top cell. By matching the current between the component cells, the tandem cell efficiency of 7.38% has been achieved.