Improvement of the stability of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films and solar cells by light pulse treatment

The effect of exposure to high-intensity Xe light pulses at moderate temperatures on the electrical properties and light-induced degradation of intrinsic a-Si:H films and a-Si two-stacked tandem solar cells is described. Little change is observed in the dark electrical properties of the films and in the efficiency of the solar cells, while the photoconductivity of the films is lowered. The light stability of both the films and solar cells is considerably improved, such that the degradation of a light pulse treated solar cell is almost 30% smaller than its dark reference after 23 h under AM1.