Fundamental understanding, impact, and removal of boron-rich layer on n-type silicon solar cells

Kyungsun Ryu; Chel Jong Choi; Hyomin Park; Donghwan Kim; Ajeet Rohatgi; Young Woo Ok

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2015.11.031

Fundamental understanding, impact, and removal of boron-rich layer on n-type silicon solar cells

Kyungsun Ryu, Chel Jong Choi, Hyomin Park, Donghwan Kim, Ajeet Rohatgi, Young Woo Ok

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Most boron diffusion technologies result in the formation of an undesirable boron-rich layer (BRL) on the emitter surface. This paper reports on a study of the impact of gradual etching of the BRL on n-type silicon solar cell performance. It is found that gradual removal of the BRL improves surface passivation and bulk lifetime in the finished cell, while over-etching of the BRL results in a sharp decrease in fill factor due to the increased n-factor and series resistance. It is shown that the optimum chemical etching of the BRL formed as a byproduct of the screen-printed boron emitter diffusion used in this study raised the cell efficiency by -0.5%, resulting in 20.0% efficient large area (239 cm²) n-type solar cells. The change in BRL thickness and morphology as a function of chemical etching time was investigated by TEM and AES measurements to explain the quantitative impact of BRL removal on cell performance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	58-62
Number of pages	5
Journal	Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Volume	146
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2015.11.031
Publication status	Published - 2016 Mar 1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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title = "Fundamental understanding, impact, and removal of boron-rich layer on n-type silicon solar cells",

abstract = "Most boron diffusion technologies result in the formation of an undesirable boron-rich layer (BRL) on the emitter surface. This paper reports on a study of the impact of gradual etching of the BRL on n-type silicon solar cell performance. It is found that gradual removal of the BRL improves surface passivation and bulk lifetime in the finished cell, while over-etching of the BRL results in a sharp decrease in fill factor due to the increased n-factor and series resistance. It is shown that the optimum chemical etching of the BRL formed as a byproduct of the screen-printed boron emitter diffusion used in this study raised the cell efficiency by -0.5%, resulting in 20.0% efficient large area (239 cm2) n-type solar cells. The change in BRL thickness and morphology as a function of chemical etching time was investigated by TEM and AES measurements to explain the quantitative impact of BRL removal on cell performance.",

author = "Kyungsun Ryu and Choi, {Chel Jong} and Hyomin Park and Donghwan Kim and Ajeet Rohatgi and Ok, {Young Woo}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program ( NRF-2015R1A6A1A04020421 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea, and by the Converging Research Center Program ( 2014M3C1A8048834 ) through the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, Republic of Korea . ",

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AU - Ryu, Kyungsun

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AU - Park, Hyomin

AU - Kim, Donghwan

AU - Rohatgi, Ajeet

AU - Ok, Young Woo

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program ( NRF-2015R1A6A1A04020421 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea, and by the Converging Research Center Program ( 2014M3C1A8048834 ) through the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, Republic of Korea .

PY - 2016/3/1

Y1 - 2016/3/1

N2 - Most boron diffusion technologies result in the formation of an undesirable boron-rich layer (BRL) on the emitter surface. This paper reports on a study of the impact of gradual etching of the BRL on n-type silicon solar cell performance. It is found that gradual removal of the BRL improves surface passivation and bulk lifetime in the finished cell, while over-etching of the BRL results in a sharp decrease in fill factor due to the increased n-factor and series resistance. It is shown that the optimum chemical etching of the BRL formed as a byproduct of the screen-printed boron emitter diffusion used in this study raised the cell efficiency by -0.5%, resulting in 20.0% efficient large area (239 cm2) n-type solar cells. The change in BRL thickness and morphology as a function of chemical etching time was investigated by TEM and AES measurements to explain the quantitative impact of BRL removal on cell performance.

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