Low resistance Ohmic contact to p-type crystalline silicon via nitrogen-doped copper oxide films

This work explores the application of transparent nitrogen doped copper oxide (CuOx:N) films deposited by reactive sputtering to create hole-selective contacts for p-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. It is found that CuOx:N sputtered directly onto crystalline silicon is able to form an Ohmic contact. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy measurements are used to characterise the structural and physical properties of the CuOx:N films. Both the oxygen flow rate and the substrate temperature during deposition have a significant impact on the film composition, as well as on the resulting contact resistivity. After optimization, a low contact resistivity of ∼10 mΩ cm2 has been established. This result offers significant advantages over conventional contact structures in terms of carrier transport and device fabrication.