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The dependence of the crystalline volume fraction on the crystallite size for hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon based solar cells

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Abstract

We have performed an analysis on three hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) based solar cells. In order to determine the impact that impurities play in shaping the material properties, the XRD and Raman spectra corresponding to all three samples were measured. The XRD results, which displayed a number of crystalline silicon-based peaks, were used in order to approximate the mean crystallite sizes through Scherrer’s equation. Through a peak decomposition process, the Raman results were used to estimate the corresponding crystalline volume fraction. It was noted that small crystallite sizes appear to favor larger crystalline volume fractions. This dependence seems to be related to the oxygen impurity concentration level within the intrinsic nc-Si:H layers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada

    K. J. Schmidt & S. K. O’Leary

  2. Department of Materials Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Y. Lin & G. Xia

  3. Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    M. Beaudoin

  4. United Solar Ovonic LLC, Troy, MI, United States

    G. Yue & B. Yan

Authors
  1. K. J. Schmidt
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  2. Y. Lin
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  3. M. Beaudoin
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  4. G. Xia
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  5. S. K. O’Leary
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  6. G. Yue
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  7. B. Yan
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Schmidt, K.J., Lin, Y., Beaudoin, M. et al. The dependence of the crystalline volume fraction on the crystallite size for hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon based solar cells. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1536, 113–118 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2013.599

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2013.599

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