HCl gas gettering of 3d transition metals for crystalline silicon solar cell concepts

In this work, a promising simple one-step gettering technique for crystalline silicon solar cells is presented: HCl gas gettering. It is investigated for two cell concepts: the conventional wafer concept and the epitaxial wafer equivalent concept, a crystalline silicon thin-film concept, which is pursued at the Fraunhofer ISE. It is demonstrated that the concentration of crucial 3d transition metals in silicon is significantly reduced by HCl gas gettering, leading to a higher solar cell performance for both concepts.