Investigation of in situ grown P-doped nc-SiO_x: H thin film as the n layer for the application of thin film solar cell

As a key component layer of thin-film solar cell device, the property of n-layer significantly determines the photovoltaic performance. In this work, the phosphorous-doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide thin films are in situ prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method at a low substrate temperature (150 °C), a mixture of He and Ar is applied as a dilution. A series of characterizations have been carried out for investigating the film properties. It is found that by adjusting He/Ar flow ratio, the structural and electrical properties are controllable, while a high conductivity of 2.08 S/cm can be achieved. Moreover, thin-film solar cells are prepared with the phosphorous-doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide thin films as the n layer, and the contribution of n layer on cell performance has been studied.