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Surface and bulk passivation of multicrystalline silicon solar cells by ...

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reflectance <strong>of</strong> polished Si can be greatly lowered <strong>by</strong> texturing. For a well-textured surface<br />

<strong>of</strong> a (100)-oriented wafer, the reflectance can be as low as 0.1.<br />

The other approach is to deposit thin coatings <strong>of</strong> a material on top <strong>of</strong> the surface<br />

<strong>of</strong> a photovoltaic cell that reduces the light reflection <strong>and</strong> increases light transmission.<br />

These coatings are called antireflection (AR) coatings. The materials include SiO2, 1'iO2,<br />

ΖnO2, MgF <strong>and</strong> Si3N4. A single layer <strong>of</strong> the antireflection material is usually several<br />

hundred nanometers thick.<br />

The most common method for broadb<strong>and</strong>ing in optical applications is to use<br />

multilayer coatings that exhibit reflectance nulls at several wavelengths [41]. If the nulls<br />

are located close to each other, it can result in a very low reflectance surface. This<br />

approach has been successfully applied in other optical devices, such as beam splitters,<br />

architectural glass windows, <strong>and</strong> optical instruments. But, because <strong>of</strong> cost considerations,<br />

a conventional multilayer approach is not suitable for <strong>solar</strong> <strong>cells</strong>. However, the broadb<strong>and</strong><br />

anti-reflection features in <strong>solar</strong> <strong>cells</strong> are obtained through the use <strong>of</strong> rough surfaces, in<br />

conjunction with a single-layer <strong>of</strong> AR coating.<br />

In the past, the PV industry has used materials, such as SίO2 <strong>and</strong> TiO2 for AR<br />

coatings. SίO2 is not an ideal material for AR coating <strong>of</strong> Si because its refractive index<br />

(n=1.45) is too low. However, it <strong>of</strong>fers the advantage <strong>of</strong> providing surface <strong>passivation</strong>.<br />

On the other h<strong>and</strong>, TiO2 is better matched optically with Si, but does not contribute to<br />

surface <strong>passivation</strong>. SIN <strong>of</strong>fers a better match as an AR coating for Si, but the cost <strong>of</strong><br />

depositing nitride layers is generally high <strong>and</strong> is not warranted for low-cost <strong>solar</strong> <strong>cells</strong>.<br />

However, the nitridation process can save other process steps <strong>and</strong> contribute to<br />

significant improvement <strong>of</strong> the cell efficiency, making it a viable option [42].

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