Aluminum oxide passivated radial junction sub-micrometre pillar array textured silicon solar cells

We report radial, p–n junction, sub-micrometre, pillar array textured solar cells, fabricated on an n-type Czochralski silicon wafer. Relatively simple processing schemes such as metal-assisted chemical etching and spin on dopant techniques were employed for the fabrication of the proposed solar cells. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) grown aluminum oxide (Al2O3) was employed as a surface passivation layer on the B-doped emitter surface. In spite of the fact that the sub-micrometre pillar array textured surface has a relatively high surface-to-volume ratio, we observed an open circuit voltage (VOC) and a short circuit current density (JSC) as high as 572 mV and 29.9 mA cm−2, respectively, which leads to a power conversion efficiency in excess of 11.30%, for the optimized structure of the solar cell described herein. Broadband omnidirectional antireflection effects along with the light trapping property of the sub-micrometre, pillar array textured surface and the excellent passivation quality of the ALD-grown Al2O3 on the B-doped emitter surface were responsible for the enhanced electrical performance of the proposed solar cells.