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Crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on glass
Structure of a poly - crystalline Silicon thin-film solar cell on glass
Crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells are an appealing technology combining the advantages thin-film technology (low material consumption and low costs) and the superior electronic quality of crystalline silicon. However, the manufacturing methods proposed so far by chemical vapor deposition are very slow, require the use of toxic gases or do not yield the required cell performance.
Therefore, at the Institut Silizium-Photovoltaik we fabricate the thin silicon film by electron-beam evaporation on cheap substrates, e.g. glass. Very high deposition rates up to 20 nanometers per second can be achieved, making e-beam evaporation be a deposition method for silicon thin-film solar cells with potential high-cost saving potential.
Usually, the silicon films are deposited in amorphous phase und subsequently crystallized by several methods. At the institute, laser-induced or solid phase crystallization processes are under investigation. But also the direct growth of crystalline thin films at elevated temperatures is applied.
Another research topic is the development of temperature-stable, transparent, conductive layers with high electrical mobilities up 70cm2 /Vs. At the moment, we focus on aluminum doped zinc oxide layers. These films are used as front contact layers of the crystalline silicon thin-film solar cell concept.
Since December 2009 our work is part of the European Commission project PolySiMode.
