Enhancing the surface passivation of TiO2 coated silicon wafers

In this letter, we demonstrate good surface passivation of lightly diffused n-type solar cell emitters using titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films treated with a furnace oxidation process. Transient-photoconductance decay, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy measurements indicate that the silicon dioxide layer formed at the TiO2:Si interface provides excellent surface passivation. Emitter dark saturation current densities of 4.7×10−14 A/cm2 are achieved by this method, demonstrating that TiO2 films are compatible with high-efficiency solar cell structures.