Contact resistivity reduction on lowly-doped n-type Si using a low workfunction metal and a thin TiOX interfacial layer for doping-free Si solar cells

Eliminating a doping process could be an effective way to reduce the production cost of c-Si cells. However, in absence of highly doped Si, the formation of a high quality contact is not straightforward. The lack of field-effect passivation from a lowly doped region can lead to a high recombination current density at the contacts (J(0,metal)) and moreover, contact resistivity (rho(c)) typically increases when doping level is decreasing. In this work we focus on reducing the contact resistivity of an electron-selective contact for doping-free cells. Although the effect of low work function metals (LWMs) in combination with an i-a-Si:H layer has already been reported, the synergy effect of a LWM and a MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) contact structure on top of the ia-Si:H has not been reported yet. Here, we demonstrate a new ATOM (i-a-Si:H / TiOX / low workfunction metal) contact structure as an electron-selective contact using an i-a-Si:H layer, a TiOX interfacial layer and Ca (Phi 2.9eV) without requiring an additional n(+) doping process. The addition of TiOX in between the i-a-Si:H layer and the Ca decreases the pc by about 2 orders of magnitude. Despite of increased J(0,metal) due to e-beam processing of TiOX, the Ca based ATOM contact increases the potential max efficiency up to 25 %. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an electron-selective contact comprising a low work function metal, an interfacial TiOX and an i-a-Si:H passivation layer. This type of contact could be a promising route for the optimization of doping-free cells (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.