Boron-doped nanocrystalline silicon thin films for solar cells

► We report on structural, electronic, and optical properties of boron-doped nc-Si:H thin films deposited by rf-PECVD. ► Growth of thin nanocrystalline films on ZnO:Al-coated glass substrates by seed-layer technique. ► Optical gap widening due to confinement effect. ► Performance of a-Si:H-based p-i-n solar cells with nc-Si:H doped layers. ►