Ultra high-rate ETP deposited silicon nitride for >15% in-line processed multicrystalline silicon solar cells

The DEP/sub x/, developed by OTB Solar, uses the ETP technique for the deposition of a silicon nitride ARC on silicon solar cells. With this technique very high deposition rates can be achieved and experiments were carried out with Shell Solar to investigate the quality of these ultra high-rate deposited silicon nitride layers. An optimization study which focused on mass density and thermal stability showed that mc-Si solar cell efficiencies of >15% can be reached with silicon nitride grown at >5 nm/s.