Characteristics of surface passivation of ozone- and water-based Al2O3 films grown by atomic layer deposition for silicon solar cells

Young Joon Cho, Kwun Bum Chung, Hyo Sik Chang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated the effects of the thermal stability of atomic layer deposition (ALD) oxidants on the surface passivation of ALD-Al2O3 film. The results showed good passivation at temperatures not greater than 780 °C. However, we found that Al2O3 films with an ozone oxidant showed better surface passivation at high temperatures than the water-based samples. The Al2O3 films with a water oxidant yielded an additional interfacial oxide upon high-temperature annealing. In the case of the ozone-based samples, the interfacial Si–O bonds that formed during deposition were more stable. This structural change degraded chemical passivation, which increased the interface-trap density to ~1012 eV−1 cm−2. The passivation performance of ALD-Al2O3 films showed that at temperatures over 780 °C the passivation quality was affected more by defective passivation at the Si/SiOx interface than by a negative-fixed charge.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57-60
Number of pages4
JournalThin Solid Films
Volume649
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Alumina
  • Aluminum oxide
  • Atomic layer deposition
  • Ozone
  • Silicon-based solar cells
  • Surface passivation
  • Thermal stability

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Characteristics of surface passivation of ozone- and water-based Al2O3 films grown by atomic layer deposition for silicon solar cells'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this