Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon via Excimer Laser Annealing and Evaluation of Its Passivation Properties

Sanchari Chowdhury, Jinsu Park, Jaemin Kim, Sehyeon Kim, Youngkuk Kim, Eun-Chel Cho, Younghyun Cho and Junsin Yi
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Sanchari Chowdhury: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Jinsu Park: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Jaemin Kim: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Sehyeon Kim: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Youngkuk Kim: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Eun-Chel Cho: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Younghyun Cho: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea
Junsin Yi: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 16419, Korea

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-9

Abstract: The crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is essential for improving solar cell efficiency. In this study, we analyzed the crystallization of a-Si:H via excimer laser annealing (ELA) and compared this process with conventional thermal annealing. ELA prevents thermal damage to the substrate while maintaining the melting point temperature. Here, we used xenon monochloride (XeCl), krypton fluoride (KrF), and deep ultra-violet (UV) lasers with wavelengths of 308, 248, and 266 nm, respectively. Laser energy densities and shot counts were varied during ELA for a-Si:H films between 20 and 80 nm thick. All the samples were subjected to forming gas annealing to eliminate the dangling bonds in the film. The ELA samples were compared with samples subjected to thermal annealing performed at 850–950 °C for a-Si:H films of the same thickness. The crystallinity obtained via deep UV laser annealing was similar to that obtained using conventional thermal annealing. The optimal passivation property was achieved when crystallizing a 20 nm thick a-Si:H layer using the XeCl excimer laser at an energy density of 430 mJ/cm 2 . Thus, deep UV laser annealing exhibits potential for the crystallization of a-Si:H films for TOPCon cell fabrication, as compared to conventional thermal annealing.

Keywords: crystallinity; thermal annealing; excimer laser annealing; passivation; amorphous hydrogenated silicon film (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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