Turkish Journal of Physics
DOI
-
Abstract
A method is presented to characterize the TCO/p contact and the TCO sheet resistance in a-Si TCO/p-i-n superstrate devices. It is extremely useful for understanding resistance losses in modulus and diagnosing how plasma processing influences the TCO layers. Analysis of 4-terminal dark J-V measurements as a function of temperature on devices with varying TCO geometry yields the TCO/p contact resistance R_{TCO/p}, its activation energy E_{a} or barrier height, and the TCO sheet resistance R_{SH} in an integrated device structure. The method is applied to devices fabricated on different brands of commercial SnO_{2} substrates with different p-layers. Important new results are found. E_{a} for the SnO_{2}/p contact resistance are about 40-50 meV which is < 2kT, and therefore not a rectifying barrier. R_{SH} in one brand of SnO_{2} has a benefical decrease of 60% after a-Si deposition while another brand is unaffected. The impact of R_{SH} or R_{TCO} losses on the FF (fill factor) are determined.
Keywords
TCO/p contact resistance, SnO_{2} properties, a-Si:H p-i-n solar cells.
First Page
459
Last Page
464
Recommended Citation
KAPLAN, RUHİ and KAPLAN, BENGÜ (2002) "Characterization of the SnO_{2}/p Contact Resistance and SnO_{2} Properties in Operating a-Si:H p-i-n Solar Cells," Turkish Journal of Physics: Vol. 26: No. 6, Article 7. Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/physics/vol26/iss6/7