Microstructural influence of hydrogenated amorphous silicon on polycrystalline emitter solar cells prepared by top-down aluminum induced crystallization

Top-down Aluminum Induced Crystallization (TAIC) is a variant of metal induced crystallization (MIC) in which aluminum and silicon layers do not exchange places. This study examines the influence of the quality of hydrogenated amorphous silicon, a-Si:H, on the resultant output of TAIC polycrystalline emitter solar cells by controlling the hydrogen content and bonding distribution during a-Si:H deposition. Surprisingly, it was found that device-quality a-Si:H was not the best precursor for TAIC as determined by solar cell output characteristics.