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Grain Enhancement of Thin Silicon Layers Using Optical Processing

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Abstract

We describe a new technique for producing large-grain, poly-Si thin films on low-cost glass substrates for solar cell applications. A layer of fine-grain poly-Si is deposited on metal-coated substrate followed by a grain enhancement using optical/thermal annealing at low temperatures (∼ 500 °C). The results show that in thin-layer silicon, less than 3 microns, grains can be formed in a short time (few minutes) with grain sizes larger than the film thickness. The possible mechanisms involved in this process are also presented.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Kim Jones for TEM work and David Ginley for many valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    B. L. Sopori, Jeff Alleman & W. Chen

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27706, USA

    T. Y. Tan

  3. Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    N. M. Ravindra

Authors
  1. B. L. Sopori
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  2. Jeff Alleman
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  3. W. Chen
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  4. T. Y. Tan
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  5. N. M. Ravindra
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Sopori, B.L., Alleman, J., Chen, W. et al. Grain Enhancement of Thin Silicon Layers Using Optical Processing. MRS Online Proceedings Library 470, 419–424 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-470-419

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-470-419

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