Oxygen Precipitation Behavior in n-Type Cz-Si Related to Carbon Concentration and Crystal Growth Conditions.

The behavior of oxide precipitates during solar cell fabrication processes and the resulting effect on device performance have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. Samples were prepared with different carbon concentration and under different crystal growth conditions, namely using the conventional and an advanced process. The density of oxide precipitates increased monotonically with the carbon concentration, while the cell efficiency improved with decreasing oxygen precipitate density. When the carbon concentration was reduced to below 10¹⁶ cm⁻³, the oxide precipitates grew largely and dislocations were introduced. TEM observations confirmed that the morphology of the oxide precipitates clearly differed depending on the crystal growth conditions. Precipitates grown in platelet form introduced high density dislocations in their surroundings, while the dislocation density was relatively lower around polyhedral-type precipitates. These results thus reveal that oxygen precipitation can be controlled by varying the crystal growth conditions, possibly contributing to the production of high-efficiency solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]