High-temperature lifetesting of Al/SiOx/p-Si contacts for MIS solar cells

High-temperature lifetesting of Al/SiOx (10–15 Å)/p-Si contacts for high-efficiency MIS solar cells is reported. Electrical degradation in the temperature range 270–400 °C was governed by an activation energy of 2.56±0.12 eV, indicating that the reduction of the thin oxide layer by Al was the mechanism responsible. Extrapolating to lower temperatures indicates that this process proceeds at a negligible rate below 200 °C.