Development of p+/n+ Polysilicon Tunnel Junctions Compatible for Industrial Screen Printing

Contact passivation in silicon solar cells is currently a very popular topic in the PV community. One method is via the deposition of thin tunneling layer alongside highly doped polysilicon. However, challenges remain for the metallization of p
⁺
polysilicon layers using industrial approaches. In this work we demonstrate that a solar cell with p
⁺
polysilicon layer can be properly metalized by industrial screen printing by forming the polysilicon tunnel junction. Characterization of tunnel junctions with and without interfacial SiO
_x
layer shows rear J
₀
values of ~82 fA/cm
²
and ~101 fA/cm
²
, respectively. Such tunnel junctions can be directly applied for two-terminal tandem integration.