Fabrication and characterization of nano/microhole Si photovoltaic cells

Abstract

A simple and cost-effective technique to fabricate wafer-scale silicon nanohole radial p-n junction PVCs has been improved. By combining thermal annealing of Ag thin films and metal catalyzed electroless etching we can fabricate silicon micro/nano holes with controllable size, depth and distribution. We have conducted detailed investigations on the influence of the Ag film thickness, annealing time, annealing temperature, and silicon wafer surface property on the morphology of thermal annealing formed Ag islands. Both P-type Si wafers with both (100) and (111) orientation used in the PVC fabrication. After MCEE the (100) wafers demonstrated lower reflectance, indicating better light trapping property. The PVC with best performance was also based on (100) wafer. The moderate cell performances demonstrate the potential of the technique in large scale fabrication of cost-effective nanostructure PVCs. In addition, the cell performances are investigated in detail as functions of the nanohole dimensions and doping conditions.