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Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials

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Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Altermatt, P. P. and Murphy, J. D. (2018) Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 183 . pp. 164-172. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2018.03.028

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.03.028

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Abstract

Accurate measurements of bulk minority carrier lifetime are essential in order to determine the true limit of silicon's performance and to improve solar cell production processes. The thin film which forms when silicon wafers are dipped in solutions containing superacids such as bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (TFSI) has recently been found to be effective at electronically passivating the silicon surface. In this paper we first study the role of the solvent in which TFSI is dissolved for the passivation process. We study ten solvents with a wide range of relative polarities, finding TFSI dissolved in hexane provides improved temporal stability, marginally better passivation and improved solution longevity compared to dichloroethane which has been used previously. Sample storage conditions, particularly humidity, can strongly influence the passivation stability. The optimised TFSI-hexane passivation scheme is then applied to a set of 3 Ω cm n-type wafers cut from the same float-zone ingot to have different thicknesses. This enables the reproducibility of the scheme to be systematically evaluated. At 1015 cm−3 injection the best case effective surface recombination velocity is 0.69 ± 0.04 cm/s, with bulk lifetimes measured up to the intrinsic lifetime limit at high injection and > 43 ms at lower injection. Immersion of silicon in superacid-based ionic solutions therefore provides excellent surface passivation, and, as it is applied at room temperature, the effects on true bulk lifetime are minimal.

Item Type: Journal Article
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Chemistry
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Engineering > Engineering
Journal or Publication Title: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Publisher: Elsevier Science BV
ISSN: 0927-0248
Official Date: 15 August 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
15 August 2018Published
26 April 2018Available
14 March 2018Accepted
Volume: 183
Page Range: pp. 164-172
DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2018.03.028
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
EP/M024911/1[EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266
EP/N509796/1[EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266
EP/L015307/1[EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266
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