High-Rate Deposition of Intrinsic a-Si:H and μc-Si:H Layers for Thin‑Film Silicon Solar Cells using a Dynamic Deposition Process

Thin‑film silicon solar cells based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‑Si:H) and hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc‑Si:H) absorber layers are typically deposited using static plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) processes. It has been found that the use of very‑high frequencies (VHF) is beneficial for the material quality at high deposition rates when compared to radio-frequency (RF) processes. In the present work a dynamic VHF‑PECVD technique using linear plasma sources is developed. The linear plasma sources facilitate the use of very-high excitation frequencies on large electrode areas without compromising on the homogeneity of the deposition process. It is shown that state-of-the-art a‑Si:H and μc‑Si:H single-junction solar cells can be deposited incorporating intrinsic layers grown dynamically by VHF-PECVD at 0.35 nm/s and 0.95 nm/s, respectively.