Thin-film amorphous silicon germanium solar cells with p- and n-type hydrogenated silicon oxide layers

•SiOx:H p- and n-layers are used in high-efficiency thin-film a-SiGe:H solar cells.•Sole use of SiOx:H as doped layers offers great versatility for light management.•Bandgap grading of n-SiOx:H smoothens the transportation barrier at i-n interface.•Comparable cell performance can be achieved without the use of buffer layers.•Better light scattering and in-coupling are applied for the optimal cell structure.

Mixed-phase hydrogenated silicon oxide (SiOx:H) is applied to thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) solar cells serving as both p-doped and n-doped layers. The bandgap of p-SiOx:H is adjusted to achieve a highly-transparent window layer while also providing a strong electric field. Bandgap grading of n-SiOx:H is designed to obtain a smooth transition of the energy band edge from the intrinsic to n-doped layer, without the need of an amorphous buffer layer. With the optimized optical and electrical structure, a high conversion efficiency of 9.41% has been achieved. Having eliminated other doped materials without sacrificing performance, the sole use of SiOx:H in the doped layers of a-SiGe:H cells opens up great flexibility in the design of high-efficiency multi-junction thin-film silicon-based solar cells.