Enhanced passivation at amorphous/crystalline silicon interface and suppressed Schottky barrier by deposition of microcrystalline silicon emitter layer in silicon heterojunction solar cells

In silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells, the embedded p-layer (emitter) between transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and crystalline silicon is depleted form both sides. Hence, high level of doping is required to preserve flat band. In this report, the role of the emitter conductivity on the electrical properties of SHJ solar cells is investigated. We offer depositing microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) films to satisfy the required emitter conductivity and to suppress the Schottky barrier when employing low work function TCO material. Finally, by depositing μc-Si layers, the passivation of solar cell precursors improves and current increases, due to their low absorption coefficient.