Development of a novel surface treatment of LP-CVD ZnO layers used as Transparent Conductive Oxide for thin film silicon solar cells

• Research unit: INNOSUISSE
• Project number: 8968.3;6 PFIW-IW

Short description (English)

Development of a novel surface treatment of LP-CVD ZnO layers used as Transparent Conductive Oxide for thin film silicon solar cells

Short description (French)

Development of a novel surface treatment of LP-CVD ZnO layers used as Transparent Conductive Oxide for thin film silicon solar cells

Abstract (English)

At IMT, a new basically Argon plasma surface treatment of LP-CVD ZnO has been found, which leads to an improved conversion efficiency of thin-film silicon solar cells deposited on the ZnO front contact. This project intends to understand more deeply and develop this plasma-based process, and moreover, to investigate other kinds of surface treatment like wet etching, dry chemical etching and electrochemical etching for ZnO front contacts. The final goal is to understand and model the etching mechanisms, and finally propose solutions to develop a fast (2-3 min) industrial process adapted to large area high efficiency thin film silicon solar cell fabrication which textures the ZnO surface leading to cell efficiency gains of absolute 0.5%.

Abstract (French)

At IMT, a new basically Argon plasma surface treatment of LP-CVD ZnO has been found, which leads to an improved conversion efficiency of thin-film silicon solar cells deposited on the ZnO front contact. This project intends to understand more deeply and develop this plasma-based process, and moreover, to investigate other kinds of surface treatment like wet etching, dry chemical etching and electrochemical etching for ZnO front contacts. The final goal is to understand and model the etching mechanisms, and finally propose solutions to develop a fast (2-3 min) industrial process adapted to large area high efficiency thin film silicon solar cell fabrication which textures the ZnO surface leading to cell efficiency gains of absolute 0.5%.