Wet-Chemically Grown Interfacial Oxide for Passivating Contacts Fabricated With an Industrial Inline Processing System

This article presents for the first time the application of wet-chemical interfacial oxide from an industrial inline processing system for poly-Si-based passivating contacts. An excellent passivation quality is achieved by creating an interfacial oxide with a very short exposure time of 90 s in ozonized water and by adjusting the annealing temperature in a tube furnace, resulting in surface recombination current densities of 4 fA/cm
²
and 1.2 fA/cm
²
before and after a hydrogenation step, respectively. Detailed electrical characterization reveals the interplay of in-diffusion of P into the wafer and hydrogenation step. Our investigation shows that the optimum annealing temperature can differ before and after the hydrogenation step. The developed wet-chemical interfacial oxide is successfully implemented in back junction solar cells on large-area gallium-doped p-type silicon wafers (156.75 × 156.75 mm
²
) featuring a phosphorus-doped poly-Si-based passivating contact at the rear side. The best cell has an efficiency of 23.6% and an open-circuit voltage of 719 mV, independently confirmed by ISFH CalTeC in Germany. Our cost calculation shows a saving of up to 17.2% in capital expenditure, 5.2% p.a. in operating expense, and 9.0% in the footprint if the interfacial oxide is formed by an inline wet-chemical processing system instead of a plasma chamber.