Atomic scale controlled tunnel oxide enabled by a novel industrial tube‐based PEALD technology with demonstrated commercial TOPCon cell efficiencies > 24%

Atomic scale controlled tunnel oxide enabled by a novel industrial tube‐based PEALD technology with demonstrated commercial TOPCon cell efficiencies > 24%

Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications

10.1002/pip.3627

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pip.3627

Baochen Liao, Weiliang Wu, Reuben J. Yeo, Xinyuan Wu, Sheng Ma, Qiang Wang, Yimao Wan, Xiaodong Su, Wenzhong Shen, Xiang Li, Weimin Li, Guoqiang Xing, Bram Hoex

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics, Sustainability and the Environment, renewable energy

30 September 2022

Liao, B., Wu, W., Yeo, R. J., Wu, X., Ma, S., Wang, Q., Wan, Y., Su, X., Shen, W., Li, X., Li, W., Xing, G., & Hoex, B. (2022). Atomic scale controlled tunnel oxide enabled by a novel industrial tube‐based PEALD technology with demonstrated commercial TOPCon cell efficiencies > 24%. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3627

In this work, we report on a significant breakthrough in fabricating the critical tunnel oxide layer of tunnel oxide passivated contacts (TOPCon) high-efficiency solar cells compatible with high-volume manufacturing. We show that the tunnel oxide can be controlled at the atomic scale, enabled by an innovative tube-type industrial plasmaassisted atomic layer deposition (PEALD) method. In combination with an in situ doped poly-Si (n+) layer grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, a uniform, ultrathin
1.3 nm SiOx layer is obtained at the c-Si/SiOx/poly-Si (n+) interface. Extremely low recombination current densities down to 2.8 fA/cm2 and an implied open-circuit voltage (iVoc) as high as 759 mV are achieved, comparable to state-ofthe- art laboratory results. The developed tube-type PEALD SiOx is applied to industrial TOPCon solar cells resulting in a solar cell efficiency and open-circuit voltage of up to 24.2% and 710 mV, respectively. The tunnel oxide process window is about 2.4 Å, highlighting the importance of precisely controlling the tunnel oxide thickness at the atomic scale for TOPCon solar cells. The newly developed tube-type industrial PEALD SiOx method opens up a promising new route toward mass production of high-efficiency industrial TOPCon solar cells. Furthermore, the developed tube-type PEALD method can easily be integrated with the industrial tube-type plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, thus enabling the deposition of all thin film layers in TOPCon solar cells in one integrated PEALD/PECVD system. This significantly simplifies manufacturing complexity and fosters the commercialization of next-generation high-efficiency industrial TOPCon solar cells.

Publisher Copyright

Overseas Funding: - 1) Research Funding for High level Talents of Nantong University (No. 03083035) 2) The Major Program for the Natural Science Research of the Higher Education Institutions of Jiangsu Province, China (No. 19KJ320004) 3) The Construction Fund for School of Tongke Microelectronics, Nantong University (No. 0702610104). 4) The “Distinguished Professor of Jiangsu Province” award

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Liao, B., Wu, W., Yeo, R. J., Wu, X., Ma, S., Wang, Q., Wan, Y., Su, X., Shen, W., Li, X., Li, W., Xing, G., & Hoex, B. (2022). Atomic scale controlled tunnel oxide enabled by a novel industrial tube‐based PEALD technology with demonstrated commercial TOPCon cell efficiencies > 24%. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3627, which has been published in final form at doi.org/10.1002/pip.3627. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/18737

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Institute of Materials Research and Engineering