High mobility hydrogenated and oxygenated microcrystalline silicon as a photosensitive material in photovoltaic applications

Hydrogenated and oxygenated microcrystalline silicon (mc‐Si:O:H) is prepared by rf glow discharge method with a mixture of silane, hydrogen, and oxygen. It is observed that the Hall mobility for the films can be ∼35 cm2 V−1 s−1 under optimal oxygen contents. When used as i layer in a p‐i‐n solar cell configuration, the corresponding solar cell exhibited a 7.8% efficiency with a fill factor of 0.53 over 1‐mm‐diam spots. Further improvements are indicated from the solar cell characteristics.