Relation of lifetime to surface passivation for atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 on crystalline silicon solar cell

• We investigated the relation of potassium contamination on Si solar wafer to lifetime.
• We deposited Al2O3 layer by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si solar wafer after several cleaning process.
• Potassium can be left on Si surface by incomplete cleaning process and degrade the Al2O3 passivation quality.

We investigated the relation of potassium contamination on a crystalline silicon (c-Si) surface after potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching to the lifetime of the c-Si solar cell. Alkaline solution was employed for saw damage removal (SDR), texturing, and planarization of a textured c-Si solar wafer prior to atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al2O3 growth. In the solar-cell manufacturing process, ALD Al2O3 passivation is utilized to obtain higher conversion efficiency. ALD Al2O3 shows excellent surface passivation, though minority carrier lifetime varies with cleaning conditions. In the present study, we investigated the relation of potassium contamination to lifetime in solar-cell processing. The results showed that the potassium-contaminated samples, due to incomplete cleaning of KOH, had a short lifetime, thus establishing that residual potassium can degrade Al2O3 surface passivation.