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2002
Journal Article
Titel
Crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on ZrSiO/sub4/ ceramic substrates
Abstract
The development of a low-cost substrate is one of the major technological challenges for crystalline Si thin-film solar cells. Zirconium silicate (ZrSiO/sub 4/) ceramics is a material which can meet the demanding physical requirements as well as the cost goals. Thin microcrystalline Si films were deposited by atmospheric pressure CVD on ZrSiO/sub 4/-based ceramic substrates coated with barrier layers. The Si film was transferred into a multicrystalline grain structure by zone- melting recrystallization (ZMR). Film growth was analyzed in situ and correlated with substrate and barrier layer properties. Thin-film solar cells were fabricated from selected coarse-grained films. The best solar cell achieved an efficiency of 8.3% with a short circuit current density of 26.7 mA/cm/sup 2/. The effective diffusion length obtained from internal quantum efficiency measurements was about 25 mu m.
Tags
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crystalline silicon thin-film solar cell
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ceramic substrate
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low-cost substrate
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zirconium silicate
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cost
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atmospheric pressure CVD
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barrier layer
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multicrystalline grain structure
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zone melting recrystallization
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coarse-grained film
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efficiency
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short circuit current density
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effective diffusion length
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internal quantum efficiency measurement