High-quality nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide emitter for crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

We developed a highly transparent n-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide (nc-3C-SiC:H) emitter for crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction solar cells. A low emitter saturation current density ( J 0 e ) of 1.4 × 10 1 fA / cm 2 was obtained under optimal deposition conditions. A c-Si heterojunction solar cell fabricated on a p-type c-Si wafer without texturing showed an active area efficiency of 17.9% [open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) = 0.668 V , short-circuit current density ( J sc ) = 36.7 mA / cm 2 , fill factor = 0.731 ]. The high J sc value is associated with excellent quantum efficiencies at short wavelengths ( < 500 nm ) .