Highly textured ZnO:B films grown by low pressure chemical vapor deposition for efficiency enhancement of heterojunction silicon-based solar cells

• Published in: Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 758 - 761
• Main Authors: Hsiao, Jui-Chung, Chen, Chien-Hsun, Yang, Hung-Jen, Wu, Chien-Liang, Fan, Chia-Ming, Huang, Chien-Fu, Lin, Chao-Cheng, Yu, Peichen, Hwang, Jenn-Chang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2013
• Subjects: Heterojunction solar cell; Low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition; ZnO:B; ZnO:B; Low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition; Heterojunction solar cell
• ISSN: 1876-1070; 1876-1089
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtice.2013.01.027

► The highly-textured ZnO:B film is grown by LPCVD system. ► The ZnO:B film is excellent in efficient light harvesting and carrier collection. ► The ZnO:B film properties were optimized versus the temperature and B2H6 flow rate. ► A HJS solar cell with a ZnO:B film achieves a high power conversion efficiency. This paper demonstrates the growth of highly-textured boron-doped ZnO (ZnO:B) film by using low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition (LPCVD) for efficient light harvesting and carrier collection in heterojunction silicon-based (HJS) solar cells. The optical and electrical characteristics have been optimized versus the substrate temperature and B2H6 flow rate for tradeoffs among the sheet resistance, free-carrier absorption, and optical transmission of blue/green wavelengths. A HJS solar cell with a 1.6-μm-thick ZnO:B film achieves a high power conversion efficiency of 16.30% and fill factor of 78.05%, compared to 15.64% and 72.17%, respectively, from a counterpart with a conventional 80-nm-thick indium tin oxide layer.