HIGH EFFICIENCY REAR EMITTER PERT CELLS

ON CZ AND FZ N-TYPE SILICON SUBSTRATES

Jianhua Zhao and Aihua Wang

Centre of Excellence for Advance Silicon Photovoltaics and Photonics
University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

ABSTRACTS VERY HIGH EFFECTIVE CARRIER LIFETIMES FROM

In this paper, we report energy conversion efficiencies
of 20.8% from CZ and 22.7% from FZ n-type silicon sub-
strates, by a rear emitter PERT (passivated emitter, rear
totally-diffused) cell structure. Record efficiency of 22.7%
and excellent open-circuit voltage of 706 mV have been
demonstrated by these rear emitter cells on n-type FZ
substrates. The comparable high efficiency from the CZ
substrates also confirmed that high cell efficiencies can be
achieved from these lower quality CZ silicon substrates.
Since the CZ cell results came from the first batch of such
CZ cells, it shows the minimum performance boundary for
these CZ cells. Higher performance is expected from fu-
ture experiments, due to very little difference in the ex-
perimental minority carrier lifetimes between CZ and FZ
substrates.
N-TYPE CZ AND FZ SILICON SUBSTRATES
The advantage of the n-type silicon substrates is their
extremely high effective carrier lifetimes. Except the boron
oxygen related effect which reduces the carrier lifetime in
p-type silicon, the n-type surface can be more readily pas-
sivated. In our previous work, the n-type wafer surfaces
were diffused with phosphorus at both surfaces, and then
passivated by a TCA grown oxide. A phosphorus diffused
surface is expected to improve surface passivation, and
hence increase the measured effective carrier lifetime.
The effective carrier lifetime was measured by the PCD
(photo-conductance decay) method with a Leo Giken car-
rier lifetime tester. Fig. 1 shows the effective carrier life-
time measurement results.
SEH nCz1.3
Effective Carrier Lifetime, microsecond

INTRODUCTION 7000 SEH nFz0.9

Topsil nFz1.5
The first silicon solar cells were fabricated on n-type 6000 SEH nCz0.4
silicon substrates in the early 1950s. However, it was SEH nCz5.5
soon found that the p-type cells gave much better stability 5000
after space radiation damage. At the time when the space
cell was the only application for these silicon cells, p-type 4000
silicon soon replaced the n-type silicon as the primary
substrate materials for solar cells. This tradition has been 3000
extended to today, probably without very clear scientific
reasons. 2000

1000
The n-type cell structures have been explored by only
a few groups. After decades of research and development
0
efforts, SunPower and Sanyo are able to produce high
efficiency Back-Point-Contact cells and the HIT cells on
FG 0

ne 0

0
d age

e
st 4 0
FG 0

FG 0
FG 0

3d F G 0

ne e
Al l39

d 39

ag
35

40

Al r a g
38

42

ay 4

the n-type silicon substrates [1, 2]. Both these cell struc-
2 8 al

2 8 tor
or
a
o

st
s

tures have demonstrated over 21% efficiencies at their

production facilities [1, 2]. These are also the highest effi-
cient commercially viable silicon cells for terrestrial appli-
cations.
Recently a renewed interest is back to the n-type sili-
con substrates for high efficiency solar cells. The initial
trigger to this might be the discovery to the performance
degradation in boron doped CZ silicon substrates [3]. It
was later pointed out by J. Schmidt et al that such degra-
dation was a result from the reaction of boron with oxygen
in the CZ substrates [4]. Using n-type silicon substrate is
expected to avoid such degradation problem completely.
Fig. 1. Measured effective carrier lifetime under different
processing and storage conditions. Both surfaces of the
wafers were diffused with phosphorus.
Different processing and storage conditions are listed
in Fig. 1, where the notation FG350 represents sintering in
forming gas (FG) at 350°C and nCz1.3 represents 1.3
W×cm n-type CZ substrates. All FG sintering and alneal
(aluminium anneal) processes were carried out for 30
minutes. It can be seen in Fig. 1 that all the tested wafers

1-4244-0016-3/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE 996

have effective carrier lifetimes greater than 1 millisecond
(ms). These measured minority carrier lifetimes are signifi-
cantly higher than those previously measured in boron
doped p-type FZ silicon substrates. Even with the lower
minority carrier mobility values reported in n-type com-
pared to p-type, which gave effective carrier lifetime in the
range of 0.5 to 2 ms, this results in similar or larger minor-
ity diffusion lengths for n-type over p-type FZ substrates
and is much longer than the p-type CZ substrates. Among
the SEH n-type CZ substrates, the 5.5 W-cm substrate
gives the highest effective carrier lifetime of 5 ms.
Hence, it gives a potential for cells on such n-type CZ
materials to match the performance levels which have
been demonstrated by cells on boron doped FZ silicon
substrates
REAR EMITTER N-TYPE PERT CELL STRUCTURE
It was the difficulties in the p-type emitter fabrication
that had stopped many researchers wondering around the
n-type cells. At the University of New South Wales, a high
lifetime, low surface damage BBr3 boron diffusion had
been developed many years ago. However, the cells with
such boron emitter at the front surface of a PERT cell still
suffered a sever degradation under one-sun illumination.
In this present work, the boron doped emitter has been
moved to the rear surface of the cell as shown in Fig. 2.
This has completely eliminated the degradation problems
in these n-type cells. Their performances have also im-
proved considerably, both for FZ and CZ substrates.
CELL FABRICATION
The high efficiency PERL type processing was used
to fabricated these rear emitter n-type PERT cells, which
including inverted pyramid front surface, BBr3 boron diffu-
sion, high quality thermal oxidation, solid source phospho-
rus diffusion, lift off and plated Ag metallization, and dou-
ble layer antireflection coating. In fact the only difference
from these rear emitter n-type PERT cells to our traditional
front emitter p-type PERT cells [5] is the type of the sub-
strate. These PERT cells, on both n- and p-type sub-
strates, were fabricated in the same batches, with com-
patible performances.
Thin substrates between 170 mm to 200 mm were
used for these cells both on CZ and FZ substrates to allow
light generated carriers to be transported efficiently to the
rear emitter. Reasonably high substrate resistivity of 5 W-
cm and 1.5 W-cm were used for the CZ and FZ substrates,
respectively. Due to the rear boron diffusion covers the
entire rear surfaces of the cells, the cells have to be
2
scribed into 22 cm cell size before measurement, as
shown in Fig. 3. Hence, these results are generally
equivalent to the large area production cells.

double layer finger "inverted" pyramids

Fig. 3. The 22 cm2 large area scribed cells are made for
antireflection
these experiments.
coating
PERFORMANCE OF REAR EMITTER N-PERT CELLS

The performances of the FZ rear emitter cells were

p+ measured at Sandia National Laboratories under the stan-
n+ n thin oxide p dard one-sun conditions. The performances of the CZ
(~200Å) cells were tested at UNSW referenced to cells tested at
n-silicon +
p Sandia. Table 1 lists these results.
p+ p
The CZ cells had relatively low Voc of 660 mV. There
is no explanation why the CZ cells should give much lower
rear contact oxide Voc than those from FZ cells, since similarly high effective
carrier lifetimes of a few milliseconds have been demon-
Figure 2. The rear emitter n-type PERT cell structure. strated both on FZ and CZ substrates. To be noted is that
this is the first batch of the CZ cells, and some thing might

2
Table 1. The performance of 22 cm rear emitter PERT cells on n-type CZ and FZ silicon substrates. The FZ cells
were tested at Sandia National Laboratories under the standard 100 mW/cm2 AM1.5 global spectrum, at 25°C, and
the CZ cells were tested at UNSW referenced to cells tested at Sandia under the same conditions.
Resistivity Thickness Voc Jsc FF Efficiency
2
Cell ID Material (W-cm) (mm) (mV) (mA/cm ) (%) (%)
Wnrj8-3a CZ 4.5 – 5.5 200 659 39.9 78.7 20.8
Wnrj8-6a CZ 4.5 – 5.5 180 660 39.3 79.7 20.7
Wnrj7-2a FZ 1–2 170 702 40.1 80.5 22.7
Wnrj7-1a FZ 1–2 170 706 40.1 79.1 22.4

997
be not optimized in the cell processing. It is possible that
these CZ cells have relative higher rear surface recombi-
nation.
Interestingly, the CZ cells have close high current
density as the FZ cells. This indicates that the bulk minor-
ity carrier lifetime in these CZ cells are high enough to
transport most of the light generated minority carriers to
the rear junction. Hence, it is possible that the surface
recombination is still relatively higher for these CZ cells
compared to the FZ cells. These higher surface recombi-
nation, if it happens at the rear surface, will mostly con-
tribute to reduced open-circuit voltage, but may give very
small contribution to reduce the short-circuit current den-
sity of these CZ cells.
Comparably, the FZ cells have demonstrated excel-
lent Voc of 706 mV and record efficiency of 22.7%. Their
high current densities and high fill factors are resulted from
good cell design and processing. The spectrum response
measurement of these FZ cells shows a very high internal
quantum efficiency of 98%. High carrier lifetime and thin
substrate thickness have helped to achieve efficient carrier
transportation to the rear emitter, and hence improved the
short circuit current density and the cell efficiency. Some
current lost is due to the increased infrared light escaped
from the front surface, when the cell substrate was as thin
as 170 mm.
1.0
0.8
Cell ID: Wnrj8-3a
Current, A
Fig. 4 shows the measured I-V curve of the best rear
emitter CZ and FZ n-PERT cells, which has demonstrated
efficiencies of 20.8% and 22.7%, respectively. Both these
cells give relatively high fill factors of around 80%. Some
earlier rear emitter n-PERT cells had rather low fill factors,
and possibly affected by the increased recombination at
the laser scribed and cleaved cell edges. The more recent
cells in this paper had employed the limited emitter
method, so that the edge scribing and cleaving occurs
outside of the emitter edges. This technique has markedly
improved the cell fill factors. Fortunately, the larger pro-
duction cells will have relatively less cleaved edges, and
hence should have similarly high fill factors.
The spectral response measurement of the earlier FZ
cells up to 400 mm thickness have clearly shown that the
recombination loss during carrier transportation to the rear
surface has affected the cell current densities. Low IQE of
only 93% was observed for the 400 mm thick cells. With
the reduced cell thickness, the IQE increased to 98% for
the 170 mm thin cells. The optimum thickness is around
200 mm for the FZ cells, estimated both from the computer
simulation and from the experimental results.
Due to the similar high carrier lifetimes demonstrated
both in CZ and FZ substrates, the optimum thickness for
the CZ cells is expected to be close to that of the FZ cells.
The experimental current density of 39.9 mA/cm2 from the
CZ cell, which is only 0.2 mA/cm2 below the best FZ cell,
gives the evidence that the CZ cell also have a very good
carrier collection, and is also very close to its optimum
thickness range.

0.6 Substrate: CZ
Cell area: 22 cm2 IMPROVED CELL STABILITY
0.4 Voc = 659 mV
Jsc = 39.9 mA/cm 2 It is found that all the rear emitter n-type PERT cells
0.2 FF = 0.787 have very stable and even improved performance under
Eff = 20.8% one-sun illumination by an ELH lamp light source for many
0.0 hours. Fig. 5 shows these results. For the 400 mm thick
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 cells in the first FZ batch, Wnrj1, with scribed and cleaved
Voltage, V through emitter edges, all parameters improved after illu-
mination. The high recombination at the scribed edges
(a) may have been reduced during illumination possibly due
1.0 to slight oxidation of the cleaved edge surfaces.

0.8 However, the cells in the later 170 mm thin FZ batch,

Cell ID: Wnrj7-2a
Wnrj7, showed much more stable performance under one-
0.6 Substrate: FZ sun illumination. Hiding the emitter from the cleaved ex-
amps

Cell Area: 22 cm
2 posed edges with limited emitter design has further im-
0.4 Voc = 702 mV proved the cell stability, as well as improved the cell fill
Jsc = 40.1 mA/cm
2 factors. Fortunately, relatively less cleaved emitter edges
FF = 0.805 for larger area commercial cells will have much less effect
0.2
Eff = 22.7% on the final cell performance.
0.0 The CZ cell, Wnrj8-5a, is as stable as the other FZ
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 cells, even though a slightly lower initial efficiency was
volts
observed from this cell. Moving the boron diffused emitter
(b) to the rear surface of the cell has put the emitter in the
shade, and hence the emitter area with high concentration
Fig. 4: I-V curves of rear emitter n-type cells (a) on CZ
of both boron and oxygen is not illuminated by the light,
substrate as measured at UNSW and (b) on FZ substrate
and hence, does not have the detrimental lifetime degra-
as measured at Sandia National Laboratories.
dation problem as mentioned in [3, 4].

998
 705 CONCLUSIONS
700
High energy conversion efficiencies of 20.8% and
695
22.7% have been demonstrated by the rear emitter n-
Voc, mV 690 PERT cells on CZ and FZ substrates, respectively. The
685 Wnrj1-2b, FZ thickness has to be reduced for the best performance of
680 Wnrj1-2a, FZ these cells. Their stability has also been significantly im-
675 Wnrj7-1b, FZ proved, and making them ready for commercial applica-
670 Wnrj8-5a, CZ tions.
665
660 This work is considered important since the simplicity
655 of the rear emitter cell structure. It is believed possible to
0 5 10 simplify this cell structure for commercial production, and
One-sun Illumination Time, hr possibly on low cost CZ substrates.
40.0 Wnrj1-2b, FZ
Wnrj1-2a, FZ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
39.8 Wnrj7-1b, FZ
Wnrj8-5a, CZ The authors would like to acknowledge the contribu-
39.6
Jsc, ma/cm2

tions from other members of the Centre for Photovoltaic

39.4 Engineering, University of New South Wales, particularly
39.2 Prof. M. A. Green and Prof. S. R. Wenham. Many thanks
go to Dr. Takao Abe of SEH Co. for supplying a variety of
39.0 high quality phosphorus doped n-type CZ and FZ wafers
38.8 and other materials. The contributions of members of
Sandia National Laboratories in the area of cell characteri-
38.6 zation are gratefully acknowledged, particularly those of Dr.
0 5 10 Barry Hanson and Dr. Douglas Ruby. The Photovoltaics
One-sun Illumination Time, hr
Special Research Centre was established and supported
80.0 Wnrj1-2b, FZ under the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excel-
Wnrj1-2a, FZ lence Program.
79.5 Wnrj7-1b, FZ
Wnrj8-5a, CZ REFERENCES
79.0
[1] W.P. Mulligan, et al, “Manufacture of solar cells with
FF, %

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78.0 [2] M. Tanaka, S. Okamoto, S. Tsuge and S. Kiyama, 3rd
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0 5 10 25th IEEE PVSC, 1996, pp. 405-408.
One-sun Illumination Time, hr
[4] J. Schmidt, A.G. Aberle and R. Hezel, "Investigation
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22.0 Wnrj7-1b, FZ
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21.5 voltaics, 7, 1999, pp. 471-474.

21.0

20.5

20.0
0 5 10
One-sun Illumination Time, hr

Fig. 5. The performance of FZ and CZ rear emitter n-

PERT cells of three different batches during one-sun illu-
mination by ELH lamp.

999