Abstract
Al2O3 layers fabricated with atomic layer deposition (ALD) show high levels of surface passivation on p- and n-type silicon wafers. In order to form front and rear electrodes, Al2O3 layers should undergo a firing process at a high peak temperature. Therefore, the Al2O3 layer must be stable under these conditions to maintain a high level of surface passivation during the firing process. In this study, Al2O3 layers fabricated with ALD were pre-annealed to enhance their thermal stability during the firing process. From quasi-steady state photoconductance (QSSPC) measurements, the difference between the implied Voc values of the pre-annealed and fired samples was found to be smallest (3 mV) when the sample was pre-annealed at 620°C. The surface recombination rate calculated from capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements of metal-Al2O3-Si (metal-insulator-semiconductor) structures was shown to be low when the sample was pre-annealed at 600-650°C. Thus, firing stability was achieved with pre-annealing at 620°C by reducing the surface recombination rate. We conclude that it is necessary to pre-anneal the Al2O3 passivation layer at this specific temperature to reduce the degradation of the passivation quality of Al2O3 after the firing process.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1075-1080 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Israel Journal of Chemistry |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 Oct 1 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Keywords
- AlO
- passivation
- semiconducting materials
- solar cells
- thin films
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry