A Novel Fabrication Process for Polysilicon Thin Film Solar Cells

这项拨款为一种新型薄膜硅太阳能电池制造工艺的详细研究提供了资金，这种工艺比目前的工艺消耗的能量要少得多。硅将通过低温沉积到金属层上；然后用一种新颖的脉冲快速热退火工艺在固相中结晶。本研究包括对影响太阳能电池性能的基本工艺-结构关系的深入研究。实验研究将通过探讨结晶速率、浓度分布和晶粒结构对结晶机理的影响来阐明结晶机理。多层多晶结构和性能的优化也将是研究的目标。虽然主要的焦点是在单结太阳能电池的结构，多结电池将使用相同的工艺制造。商用低温玻璃将被用作太阳能电池制造的衬底。如果成功，本研究结果将为光伏产业提供一个可行的解决方案，即在大面积玻璃基板上实现高通量的低成本批量生产工艺。这项工作的主要目标是了解影响体积和界面多晶薄膜结构和材料性能的关键工艺因素，以获得最佳的太阳能电池性能。同样的原理也适用于制造用于太阳能电池和其他纳米和微电子器件的广泛的多晶半导体薄膜。这项工作也将有助于固态材料科学、器件制造和快速热退火工艺的发展。

This grant provides funding for the detailed study of a novel thin-film silicon solar cell fabrication process that uses significantly less energy than current processes. The silicon will be delivered via a low temperature deposition onto a metal layer; the stack will then be crystallized in the solid phase using a novel pulsed rapid thermal annealing process. This study includes an in-depth investigation of the fundamental process-structure relationship that influences the solar cell performance. The experimental study will elucidate the crystallization mechanism by exploring the effects of crystallization rate, concentration profile and grain structure. Optimization of the multi-layer polycrystalline structure and properties will be a goal of the study as well. Although the primary focus is on the single-junction solar cell structure, multiple-junction cells will be fabricated using the same kind of process. Commercial low-temperature glass will be used as the substrate for the solar cell fabrication. If successful, the result of this research will provide a viable solution to the photovoltaic industry, i.e., a low-cost mass production process on the large-area glass substrate with high throughput. The primary goal of this work is to understand the key process factors that affect the bulk and interface polycrystalline thin-film structure and material properties for optimum solar cell performance. The same principle is applicable to the fabrication of a wide range of polycrystalline semiconductor thin films for solar cells and other nano- and micro-electronic devices. This work will also contribute to the advancement of solid-state material science, device fabrication, and rapid thermal annealing processes.