H sub(2) plasma treatment at the p/i interface of a hydrogenated amorphous Si absorption layer for high-performance Si thin film solar cells

Plasma treatment (PT) of the buffer layer for highly H sub(2)-diluted hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) absorption layers is proposed as a technique to improve efficiency and mitigate light-induced degradation (LID) in a-Si:H thin film solar modules. The method was verified for a-Si:H single-junction and a-Si:H/microcrystalline silicon ( mu c-Si:H) tandem modules with a size of 200200mm super(2) (aperture area of 382.5cm super(2)) under long-term light exposure. H sub(2) PT at the p/i interface was found to eliminate non-radiative recombination centers in the buffer layer, and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low radio-frequency power was found to suppress the generation of defects during the growth of a-Si:H absorption layers on the treated buffer layers. With optimized H sub(2) PT of the a-Si:H single-junction module, the stabilized short circuit current and fill factor increased, and the stabilized open circuit voltage moves beyond its initial value. The results demonstrate 7.7% stabilized efficiency and 10.5% LID for the a-Si:H single-junction module and 10.82% stabilized efficiency and 7.76% LID for the a-Si:H/ mu c-Si:H tandem module. Thus, the growth of an a-Si:H absorption layer on a H sub(2) PT buffer layer can be considered as a practical method for producing high-performance Si thin film modules. Copyright copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Plasma treatment of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) absorption layers is proposed to improve efficiency and mitigate light-induced degradation in a-Si:H thin film solar modules. H sub(2) plasma treatment at the p/i interface eliminated non-radiative recombination centers in the buffer layer. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low radio frequency power suppressed the generation of new defects during the growth of a-Si:H absorption layers on the treated buffer layers. The proposed method is practical for producing high-performance Si thin film modules.