Emitter formation using laser doping technique on n- and p-type c-Si substrates

Abstract In this work laser doping technique is used to create highly-doped regions defined in a point-like structure to form n+/p and p+/n junctions applying a pulsed Nd-YAG 1064 nm laser in the nanosecond regime. In particular, phosphorous-doped silicon carbide stacks (a-SiC x /a-Si:H (n-type)) deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) and aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) layers deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on 2 ± 0.5 Ω cm p- and n-type FZ c-Si substrates respectively are used as dopant sources. Laser power and number of pulses per spot are explored to obtain the optimal electrical behavior of the formed junctions. To assess the quality of the p+ and n+ regions, the junctions are electrically contacted and characterized by means of dark J–V measurements. Additionally, a diluted HF treatment previous to front metallization has been explored in order to know its impact on the junction quality. The results show that fine tuning of the energy pulse is critical while the number of pulses has minor effect. In general the different HF treatments have no impact in the diode electrical behavior except for an increase of the leakage current in n+/p junctions. The high electrical quality of the junctions makes laser doping, using dielectric layers as dopant source, suitable for solar cell applications. Particularly, a potential open circuit voltage of 0.64 V (1 sun) is expected for a finished solar cell.