Laser Techniques In Photovoltaic Applications

R. T. Young; R. F. Wood; J. Narayan; W. H. Christie

doi:10.1117/12.958018

24 January 1980 Laser Techniques In Photovoltaic Applications

R. T. Young, R. F. Wood, J. Narayan, W. H. Christie

Proceedings Volume 0198, Laser Applications in Materials Processing; (1980) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.958018
Event: 23rd Annual Technical Symposium, 1979, San Diego, United States

Abstract

High-power laser pulses are being used to replace conventional high-temperature furnace processing in the development of high-speed, low-cost solar cell fabrication methods. Three different approaches to p-n junction formation have been studied: (1) junction formation from laser-annealed, ion-implanted Si in which laser radiation is used to remove radiation damage and to recover the electrical activity in the implanted layer; (2) junction formation by laser-induced diffusion in which a thin film of dopant is first deposited on the substrate and then incorporated into the near-surface region by laser-induced melting of the near-surface region; and (3) laser-induced epitaxial junction formation in which a heavily doped amorphous silicon layer is deposited on a Si substrate and epitaxially regrown from the substrate layer which has been partially melted by the laser radiation. We have demonstrated that all three methods can provide suitable candidates for junction formation in high-efficiency Si solar cells. These laser techniques are particularly attractive for p-n junction formation in thin-film polycrystalline material. In conventional thermal diffusion, enhanced diffusion along grain boundaries can cause short circuits between the emitter region and the substrate. With the laser techniques, the near-surface region of the film actually melts but for such short times (~ 10-7 sec) that significant dopant diffusion to and along the grain boundaries does not occur, thus giving control of grain boundary diffusion and segregation.

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R. T. Young, R. F. Wood, J. Narayan, and W. H. Christie "Laser Techniques In Photovoltaic Applications", Proc. SPIE 0198, Laser Applications in Materials Processing, (24 January 1980); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.958018

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