Chemical interaction at the buried silicon/zinc oxide thin-film solar cell interface as revealed by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

•We used HAXPES to identify chemical interactions at the buried silicon/aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin-film solar cell interface.•The results indicate a diffusion of zinc and aluminum into the silicon upon annealing procedures which are part of the solar cell processing.•The contamination of the sil...

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Published inJournal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena Vol. 190; pp. 309 - 313
Main Authors Wimmer, M., Gerlach, D., Wilks, R.G., Scherf, S., Félix, R., Lupulescu, C., Ruske, F., Schondelmaier, G., Lips, K., Hüpkes, J., Gorgoi, M., Eberhardt, W., Rech, B., Bär, M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.10.2013
Subjects
Aluminum
Elemental redistribution
HAXPES
Photoelectron spectroscopy
Silicon
Silicon thin-film solar cell
Silicon/zinc oxide interface
Solar cells
Statistical process control
Thin films
X-rays
Zinc
Zinc oxide
Zinc oxide
Silicon/zinc oxide interface
HAXPES
Silicon thin-film solar cell
Elemental redistribution
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Summary:•We used HAXPES to identify chemical interactions at the buried silicon/aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin-film solar cell interface.•The results indicate a diffusion of zinc and aluminum into the silicon upon annealing procedures which are part of the solar cell processing.•The contamination of the silicon may be detrimental for the solar cell performance. Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) is used to identify chemical interactions (such as elemental redistribution) at the buried silicon/aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin-film solar cell interface. Expanding our study of the interfacial oxidation of silicon upon its solid-phase crystallization (SPC), in which we found zinc oxide to be the source of oxygen, in this investigation we address chemical interaction processes involving zinc and aluminum. In particular, we observe an increase of zinc- and aluminum-related HAXPES signals after SPC of the deposited amorphous silicon thin films. Quantitative analysis suggests an elemental redistribution in the proximity of the silicon/aluminum-doped zinc oxide interface – more pronounced for aluminum than for zinc – as explanation. Based on these insights the complex chemical interface structure is discussed.
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ISSN:0368-2048
1873-2526
DOI:10.1016/j.elspec.2013.06.006