Fabrication of Microcrystalline Cubic Silicon Carbide/Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell by Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition

The n-type microcrystalline cubic silicon carbide (μc-3C-SiC:H) films were deposited by hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) at a low substrate temperature (∼300 °C). Heterojunction silicon based photovoltaic devices were fabricated by depositing wide band gap n-type μc-3C-SiC thin films on p-type Si wafers, whose thickness and resistivity were 200 μm and 1-10 Ω cm, respectively. The silicon wafers were textured using alkaline etchant prior to the device fabrication. The photovoltaic parameters of a typical device were found to be V_oc=560 mV, J_sc=35.0 mA/cm², fill factor (F.F.) = 0.724, and η=14.20%. Numerical analysis was performed using automat for simulation of hetero structures (AFORS-HET), a one-dimensional device simulators to determine the probable cause of the changes in device parameters before and after the ageing of the filament.