• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2001.07a
• /
• pp.251-254
• /
• 2001

This paper describes an efficiency improvement of buried contact solar cell (BSCS) with a structure of MgF$_2$/CeO$_2$/Ag/Cu/Ni grid/n$^{+}$ emitter/p-type Si base/p$^{+}$/Al. Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a double layer antireflection (DLAR) coating of MgF$_2$/CeO$_2$. We investigated CeO$_2$ films as an AR layer because they have a proper refractive index of 2.46 and demonstrate the same lattice constant as Si substrate. An optimized DLAR coating shewed a reflectance as low as 2.04 % in the wavelengths ranged from 0.4 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ to 1.1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. BCSC cell efficiency was improved from 16.2 % without any AR coating to 19.9 % by employing DLAR coatings. Further details on MgF$_2$/CeO$_2$ DLAR coatings on the BCSC cells are presented in this paper.per.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.02a
• /
• pp.149-149
• /
• 2010

The double-layer antireflection (DLAR) coatings have significant advantages over single-layer antireflection (SLAR) coatings. This is because they will be able to cover a broad range of the solar spectrum which would enhance the overall performance of solar cells. Moreover films deposited at high frequency are expected to show excellent and UV-stable passivation in the refractive index that we adopted. In this work, we present a novel DLAR coating using SiNx:H thin films with refractive indices 1.9 and 2.3 as the top and bottom layers. This approach is cost effective when compared to earlier DLAR coatings with two different materials. SiNx:H films were deposited by Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using $SiH_4$, $NH_3$ and $N_2$ gases with flow rates 20~80sccm, 200sccm and 85 sccm respectively. The RF power, plasma frequency and substrate temperature for the deposition were 300W, 13.56 MHz and $450^{\circ}C$, respectively. The optimum thickness and refractive indices values for DLAR coatings were estimated theoretically using Macleod simulation software as 82.24 nm for 1.9 and 68.58 nm for 2.3 respectively. Solar cells were fabricated with SLAR and DLAR coatings of SiNx:H films and compared the cell efficacy. SiNx:H> films deposited at a substrate temperature of $450^{\circ}C$ and that at 300 W power showed best effective minority carrier lifetime around $50.8\;{\mu}s$. Average reflectance values of SLAR coatings with refractive indices 1.9, 2.05 and 2.3 were 10.1%, 9.66% and 9.33% respectively. In contrast, optimized DLAR coating showed a reflectance value as low as 8.98% in the wavelength range 300nm - 1100nm.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
• /
• v.52 no.10
• /
• pp.447-450
• /
• 2003

This paper presents a process optimization of antireflection (AR) coating on crystalline Si solar cells. Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a double-layer AR (DLAR) coating of MgF$_2$/CeO$_2$. We investigated CeO$_2$ films as an AR layer because they have a proper refractive index of 2.46 and demonstrate the same lattice constant as Si substrate. RF sputter grown CeO$_2$ film showed strong dependence on a deposition temperature. The CeO$_2$ deposited at 40$0^{\circ}C$ exhibited a strong (111) preferred orientation and the lowest surface roughness of 6.87 $\AA$. Refractive index of MgF$_2$ film was measured as 1.386 for the most of growth temperature. An optimized DLAR coating showed a reflectance as low as 2.04% in the wavelengths ranged from 0.4${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ to 1.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. We achieved the efficiencies of solar cells greater than 15% with 3.12% improvement with DLAR coatings. Further details on MgF$_2$, CeO$_2$ films, and cell fabrication parameters are presented in this paper.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.1 no.4
• /
• pp.11-15
• /
• 2000

This paper presents a process optimization of antireflection (AR) coating on crystalline Si solar cells. Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a double-layer AR(DLAR) coating of MgFe$_2$/GeO$_2$. We investigated GeO$_2$ films as an AR layer because they have a proper refractive index of 2.46 and demonstrate the same lattice constant as Si substrate. RF sputter grown GeO$_2$ film showed deposition temperature strong dependence. The GeO$_2$ at 400$\^{C}$ exhibited a strong (111) preferred orientation and the lowest surface roughness of 6.87 $\AA$. Refractive index of MgFe$_2$film was measured as 1.386 for the most of growth temperature. An optimized DLAR coating showed a reflectance as low as 2.04% in the wavelengths ranged from 0.4 ㎛ to 1.1 ㎛. Solar cells with a structure of MgFe$_2$/GeO$_2$/Ag/N$\^$+//p-type Si/P$\^$+//Al were investigated with the without DLAR coatings. We achieved the efficiency of solar cells greater than 15% with 3.12% improvement with DLAR coatings. Further details about MgFe$_2$,GeO$_2$ films, and cell fabrication parameters are presented in this paper.