Year: 1978
Type: report
Abstract: The epitaxial growth of thin solar-cell structures was extended to include another potentially low-cost form of silicon: upgraded metallurgical grade silicon obtained from Dow Corning. An AM-1 efficiency of 12.4% was achieved with a cell structure having only 14 ..mu..m of silicon grown on the Dow Corning. The best efficiency obtained was 13% on a 50-..mu..m thick structure. It was found that titanium (2 x 10/sup 14/ A/cm/sup -3/ level) intentionally incorporated into the substrates primarily causes a reduction in the short-circuit current for both epitaxial and bulk cells. However, the epitaxial cells were much less effected by the presence of titanium and efficiencies as high as 11.7% were obtained while the efficiency for bulk cells was approx. 8%. Preliminary experiments in a laboratory model of RCA's advanced rotary disc reactor have produced solar cells with 10 to 12% efficiency. These cells were grown on single-crystal control substrates and the growth which included studies of submicron surface layers showed a trend toward increased short-circuit current density for shallower junctions.
DOI: 10.2172/6051333
Authors: R V D'Aiello, P H Robinson, D Richman
Institution: RCA (United States)
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W72106395