Interface and material properties of wide band gap a-SiCx:H thin films for solar cell applications

A thin intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide ((i) a-SiCx:H) layer with a wide band gap attracts attention as an alternative passivation layer instead of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon ((i) a-Si:H) for heterojunction photovoltaic applications. The optical band gap of (i) a-SiCx:H can be widened up to 2.24eV. An increase in the optical band gap makes this layer appropriate as the window material by reducing the parasitic absorption. However, the deposition regime should be investigated to understand the incorporation of carbon. The influence of several deposition parameters such as precursor gasses flow rates and plasma power density on the (i) a-SiCx:H layers were investigated in optical, electrical, and elemental aspects. Relatively high interface trap densities were detected related to carbon piling up at the interface. An increase in the amount of C in the interface affected the passivation quality and fixed charge density of the layer. The ratio of secondary ion intensities measured by time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy presents general hydrogen filling of possible dangling bonds and the bonding preferentiality between the silicon or carbon atoms. The passivation quality of the (i) a-SiCx:H layer partially enhanced by stack layer deposition of (i) a-Si:H/(i) a-SiCx:H resulting effective lifetime above 100 μs.