At the limit of total silane gas utilization for preparation of high-quality microcrystalline silicon solar cells at high-rate plasma deposition

摘要

It was aimed to find a regime for high-rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon with a silane gas utilization rate close to 100%. It is found that state-of-the art solar cells can be prepared at such conditions. The interdependencies of the relevant deposition parameters were identified in an experimental study in a multidimensional parameter space in which for each condition the μc-Si crystalline volume fraction was optimized to find the "optimum phase mixture." It is concluded that choice of the deposition pressure has a critical influence on the silane gas utilization rate and deposition rate.