Improving the minority carrier lifetime of PERC solar cells via bi-layer rear interface passivation strategy

Passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) based solar cells are dominating the current photovoltaic (PV) market due to their high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and low cost. However, issues like the lower minority carrier lifetime (MCLT) and high density of surface dangling bonds are limiting their further improvement in PCE. To overcome this issue, a bi-layer rear interface passivation strategy is developed with the ultra-thin Al2O3 and SiO2 layers in PERC solar cells. Applying single (Al2O3) and double (SiO2/Al2O3) passivation layers revealed that each process parameter such as plasma conditions, deposition temperature, post-annealing temperature, and the film thickness in the ALD process affect the MCLT values as well as overall device performance. Especially, post-annealing treatment which improves crystallinity, and reduces interfacial defects was found to be most influential for the MCLT value. The single Al2O3 layer applied in PERC solar cells revealed an increase and decrease in MCLT values at a relatively lower (<10 nm) and higher thickness (>15 nm), respectively. Further, integration of SiO2 with the Al2O3 layer showed its more prominent effect than just single Al2O3 and SiO2 passivation layers. An optimal SiO2 thickness combination (4 nm) with an Al2O3 layer (12 nm), demonstrated reduced density of surface dangling bonds and diffusion of Al atoms from Al2O3 layers. As a result, it improved the carrier extraction yield by increasing the negative fixed charge. Finally, SiO2/Al2O3 (4/12 nm) double passivation layer post-annealed at 450 degrees C for 15 min delivers improved PCE from 19.4% to 19.9% in PERC solar cells.