Abstract

Amorphous Si (a-Si) thin films of p+/p-/n+ were deposited on Si3N4/glass substrate by using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. These films were annealed at various temperatures and for various times by using a rapid thermal process (RTP) equipment. This step was added before the main thermal treatment to make the nuclei in the a-Si thin film for reducing the process time of the crystallization. The main heat treatment for the crystallization was performed at the same condition of 600℃/18 h in conventional furnace. The open-circuit voltages (Voc) were remained about 450 mV up to the nucleation condition of 16min in the nucleation RTP temperature of 680℃. It meat that the process time for the crystallization step could be reduced by adding the nucleation step without decreasing the electrical property of the thin film Si for the solar cell application.

• Keywords: Solar cell, Poly-Si thin film, Solid-phase crystallization, Nucleation effect, Open circuit voltage