MIS SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON SCHOTTKY BARRIER SOLAR CELLS
Date
1981-09
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Masters
Abstract
The high cost of conventional diffused homojunction solar cells has been the major stumbling block for largescale terrestrial application of photovoltaic energy converters. Metal-Insulator—Semiconductor Schottky Barrier Solar Cells (MIS SBSC) are currently of considerable interest due to their potential for low cost junction barrier formation and more importantly, their compatibility with non—single crystalline materials.
An experimental study involving design, fabrication and testing of MIS SBSC on p-type<100> single crystal silicon by vacuum evaporation technique is described. Parameters considered include substrate resistivity; Schottky metals; grid patterns; antireflection (A/R) materials; thicknesses of the interfacial insulator, Schottky metals and A/R coatings; active solar area; surface preparation and interfacial oxide formation techniques; deposition rate and vacuum condition. Also presented in this thesis are a
systematic experimental investigation and evaluation of the structure, as well as a qualitative study of the spectral response and stability of the devices fabricated.
With the improved process parameters, stable and reproducible semi-transparent metal MIS SBSC of 11-12% efficiency are developed with extreme cases of 15-16% for Al/SiOx/P.,Si configuration. An experimental study of the effects of active solar areas has revealed that these devices are limited mainly by surface resistance. Advances along this course is expected to enhance the potential of the MIS structure for a low cost production process. Moreover, the low temperature(420-500°C) fabrication process has clearly illustrated its adaptability to non-single crystalline semiconductors.
A direct spin-off of the present work is a new in-lay approach in the fabrication of mechanical masks allowing "fingers" line widths of few microns to be possible.
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Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Electrical Engineering