High-Rate Deposition of Microcrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Active Layers by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition at Kilo-Pascal Pressures

摘要

High-rate depositions of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) have been investigated for photovoltaic applications employing plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition excited at a very high frequency of 100 MHz. Very high-deposition rates of up to 7.3nm/s have been achieved by introducing depositions at very high pressures of 1.2-3.2kPa (9-24 Torr). Moreover, by applying the μc-Si deposited at 7.1 nm/s to the photovoltaic active Mayer of the n-i-p solar cells, a conversion efficiency of 5.10% (J_(sc) = 18.8mA/cm~2, V_(oc) = 0.460V, FF = 59.0%) has been achieved. We discuss the effects of the microstructures on the photovoltaic performance.