Boron doped nanocrystalline silicon/amorphous silicon hybrid emitter layers used to improve the performance of silicon heterojunction solar cells

•Boron doped nc-Si:H/a-Si:H hybrid thin films were deposited by RF-PECVD.•The hybrid films achieved better passivation effect than single Si films for c-Si.•Electrical, optical and passivation properties of the hybrid films were researched.•Output parameters of the SHJ solar cells are improved by the hybrid films.

Boron doped nanocrystalline silicon/amorphous silicon hybrid thin films were deposited by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) to improve the performance of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Electrical and optical properties as well as structural and passivation characteristics of these thin films were systematically researched as a function of TMB gas mixture ratio. A high dark conductivity of 6.5 × 10−4 S/cm and minority carrier lifetime (τs) of 1740 μs on Czochralski (Cz) Si wafers were obtained with the hybrid p-type Si films. We applied this optimized film as an emitter layer on SHJ solar cells based on Cz silicon wafers; a significant improvement in the solar cell wavelength response at 400 nm and output performance have been achieved.