Effects Of Seed Layer On The Performance Of Microcrystalline Silicon Germanium Solar Cells

Using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 13.56 MHz, a seed layer is fabricated at the initial growth stage of the hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon germanium (mu c-Si1-x Ge-x : H) i-layer. The effects of seeding processes on the growth of mu c-Si1-x Ge-x : H i-layers and the performance of mu c-Si1-x Ge-x : Hp-i-n single junction solar cells are investigated. By applying this seeding method, the mu(c)-Si1-x Ge-x : H solar cell shows a significant improvement in short circuit current density (J(sc)/and fill factor (FF) with an acceptable performance of blue response as a mu(c)-Si: H solar cell even when the Ge content x increases up to 0.3. Finally, an improved efficiency of 7.05% is achieved for the mu c-Si (0 .7) Ge0.3 : H solar cell.