A buffer-layer/a-SiOx:H(p) window-layer optimization for thin film amorphous silicon based solar cells

Amorphous silicon based (a-Si:H-based) solar cells with a buffer-layer/boron doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiOx:H(p)) window-layer were fabricated and investigated. In the first part, in order to reduce the Schottky barrier height at the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO)/a-SiOx:H(p) window-layer heterointerface, we have used buffer-layer/a-SiOx:H(p) for the window-layer, in which boron doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H(p)) or boron doped microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H(p)) is introduced as a buffer layer between the a-SiOx:H(p) and FTO of the a-Si:H-based solar cells. The a-Si:H-based solar cell using a μc-Si:H(p) buffer-layer shows the highest efficiency compared to the optimized bufferless, and a-Si:H(p) buffer-layer in the a-Si:H-based solar cells. This highest performance was attributed not only to the lower absorption of the μc-Si:H(p) buffer-layer but also to the lower Schottky barrier height at the FTO/window-layer interface. Then, we present the dependence of the built-in potential (Vbi) and blue response of the devices on the inversion of activation energy (ξ) of the a-SiOx:H(p), in the μc-Si:H(p)/a-SiOx:H(p) window-layer. The enhancement of both Vbi and blue response is observed, by increasing the value of ξ. The improvement of Vbi and blue response can be ascribed to the enlargement of the optical gap of a-SiOx:H(p) films in the μc-Si:H(p)/a-SiOx:H(p) window-layer. Finally, the conversion efficiency was increased by 22.0%, by employing μc-Si:H(p) as a buffer-layer and raising the ξ of the a-SiOx:H(p), compared to the optimized bufferless case, with a 10 nm-thick a-SiOx:H(p) window-layer.