Comparison between Secondary Electron Microscopy Dopant Contrast Image (SEMDCI) and Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) for Laser Doping of Crystalline Silicon

• Published in: Energy procedia Vol. 55; pp. 179 - 185
• Main Authors: Xu, Lujia, Hameiri, Ziv, Weber, Klaus, Yang, Xinbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2014
• Subjects: EBIC; laser doping; SEMDCI; SEMDCI; EBIC; laser doping
• ISSN: 1876-6102; 1876-6102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2014.08.112

Laser doping of crystalline silicon has been the subject of intense research over the past decade, due to its potential to enable the fabrication of high efficiency and low-cost crystalline silicon solar cells. Information regarding the doping profile created by the process is critical for process optimisation, however is generally difficult to obtain. In this paper, a relatively new technique for characterising laser doping cross-sections — Secondary Electron Microscopy Dopant Contrast Image (SEMDCI) — is compared with the widely used Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) method. A good agreement between the two techniques regarding the p-n junction profile is demonstrated. The differences between the methods are attributed to the difference of the sensitivity. The comparison demonstrates the reliability and usefulness of the SEMDCI as a characterisation method for laser doping, which shows both the p-n junction outline and dopant distribution within the doped regions. The differences between the methods and the challenges associated with the application of the SEMDCI method are also discussed.