On the Trade-Off between Industrially Feasible Silicon Surface Preconditioning Prior to Interface Passivation and Iron Contaminant Removal Effectiveness

We are investigating the effect of different wet chemical surface preconditioning sequences for silicon wafers prior to the deposition of aluminum oxide based passivation layers coated by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We are focusing on the development of a simple and industrially feasible preconditioning process to achieve a high level of interface passivation after the firing process applied to industrial solar cells. Our process optimization is monitored by characterizing the passivation quality before and after a firing process. We are also investigating the effectiveness of the removal of residual surface iron concentrations by the wet chemical process.