Degradation and Recovery of n-Type Multi-Crystalline Silicon Under Illuminated and Dark Annealing Conditions at Moderate Temperatures
article
Abstract—Recently, an n-type multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) was observed to be susceptible to degradation under illumination at elevated temperatureswith similarities to carrier-induced degradation in p-type mc-Si. In this study, we demonstrate degradation and regeneration of the effective lifetime of non-diffused n-type mc-Si wafers using illuminated and dark annealing conditions at moderate temperatures. Under illuminated annealing conditions, the degradation and regeneration rates of the n-type mc-Si are observed to be slower than those of the p-type mc-Si; however, the opposite trend was observed under dark annealing conditions. The carrier-induced degradation kinetics of the n-type wafers can be described by degradation and regeneration that occur simultaneously, and the activation energies have been identified to be 1.23 ± 0.16 eV for the degradation process and 1.34 ± 0.08 eV for the regeneration. Surprisingly, no degradation was observed in n-type mc-Si under dark annealing above 160 °C. Rather, at these conditions, a two-stage improvement in the lifetime was observed. Although degradation occurs after a subsequent laser treatment,
the stable lifetime at the end of the degradation is still slightly higher than its initial value.
the stable lifetime at the end of the degradation is still slightly higher than its initial value.
TNO Identifier
875667
Source
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 9(2), pp. 1-9.
Pages
1-9
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