Search

A P‐doped polycrystalline silicon‐nitride (n‐poly‐SiNx) as the electron selective collection layer in a tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell is reported. The nitrogen content is controlled by the active gas ratio of R = NH3/(SiH4 + NH3) during the plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. The effects of R ratio on the material's composition, crystallinity, surface passivation, and contact resistivity are investigated. The poly‐SiNx contact exhibits improved surface passivation in comparison with the reference poly‐Si without N incorporation. The best double‐sided passivated n‐type alkaline‐polished crystalline silicon wafer with the n‐poly‐SiNx/SiOx manifests the highest implied open‐circuit voltage (iVoc) of ≈745 mV, with the corresponding single‐sided saturated current density of 1.7 fA cm−2 and the effective lifetime (τeff) of 10 ms at the injection level of ≈1 × 1015 cm−3. In contrast, the controlled sample with an n‐poly‐Si/SiOx passivation contact has a maximal iVoc of 738 mV. However, the primary drawback of the N doping is to raise the contact resistivity, but which is still in an acceptable range and shows little effect on the performance of solar cell with full‐area contact. The proof‐of‐concept TOPCon solar cell using the n‐poly‐SiNx/SiOx passivating contact has achieved an efficiency of 23.88%, indicating the potential of the n‐poly‐SiNx for high‐efficiency TOPCon solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving efficient passivating carrier‐selective contacts (PCSCs) plays a critical role in high‐performance photovoltaic devices. However, it is still challenging to achieve both an efficient carrier selectivity and high‐level passivation in a sole interlayer due to the thickness dependence of contact resistivity and passivation quality. Herein, a light‐promoted adsorption method is demonstrated to establish high‐density Lewis base polyethylenimine (PEI) monolayers as promising PCSCs. The promoted adsorption is attributed to the enhanced electrostatic interaction between PEI and semiconductor induced by the photo‐generated carriers. The derived angstrom‐scale PEI monolayer is demonstrated to simultaneously provide a low‐resistance electrical contact for electrons, a high‐level field‐effect passivation to semiconductor surface and an enhanced interfacial dipole formation at contact interface. By implementing this light‐promoted adsorbed PEI as a single‐layered PCSC for n‐type silicon solar cell, an efficiency of 19.5% with an open‐circuit voltage of 0.641 V and a high fill factor of 80.7% is achieved, which is one of the best results for devices with solution‐processed electron‐selective contacts. This work not only demonstrates a generic method to develop efficient PCSCs for solar cells but also provides a convenient strategy for the deposition of highly uniform, dense, and ultra‐thin coatings for diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thin PC 61 BM buffer layer (BL) has been introduced between TiO 2 electron transporting layer and perovskite absorber in n-i-p planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). We have found that the elastic nature of the PC 61 BM BL promotes the formation of porous PbI 2−x Cl x thin film with loose structure, which is vital in the following formation of high quality, uniform perovskite films with large grain size. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the thin PC 61 BM BL also flattens the TiO 2 surface, passivates the defects or dangling bands parasitizing on the TiO 2 surface, and optimizes the device band alignment. As a result, the device efficiency has been enhanced dramatically from ~8.37% to 15.44%. Moreover, devices show a good stability over 400 h and reproducibility in 20 pieces fabricated with the same procedure, which implies that this finding is benefit for fabricating highly efficient PSCs. We introduced a thin PC 61 BM buffer layer between the TiO 2 electron transport layer and the perovskite absorber in n-i-p planar perovskite solar cells, which facilitates the construction of a porous PbI 2−x Cl x precursor film, and thus promotes the following realization of high quality, uniform perovskite films with large grain size and improves the solar cell efficiency significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of post‐crystallization annealing within various atmospheres on the surface passivation quality of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) for crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells are studied. The results provide an innovative method for improving the surface passivation of the as‐crystallized TOPCon structure by annealing at moderate temperatures ranging from 300 to 700 °C within a mixture of water vapor and nitrogen atmosphere. The wet nitrogen improves the implied open‐circuit voltages (iVoc) from 700–710 to ≈730 mV on average and reduces the single‐side reverse saturated recombination current density (J0) to 3.8 fA cm−2, which is much more effective than the so‐called forming‐gas annealing. In addition, the contact resistivity remains in low values of ≈5 mΩ cm2, ensuring its application in the high‐efficiency c‐Si solar cell. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy provides the evidence that the enhanced surface passivation by the water vapor annealing results from the hydrogen incorporation, which is logically believed to passivate the defects in the oxide and c‐Si interface region. This study proposes a simple and cost‐effective technique to improve the surface passivation of TOPCon structure, which is suitable for the high‐efficiency c‐Si solar‐cell manufacture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The double-sided p-TOPCon passivated lifetime samples with p-type Si substrates achieve a high implied open-circuit voltage of ∼ 734 mV and a low single-sided saturation current density of ∼ 4.5 fA/cm2. • The contact resistivity is below 5 mΩ‧cm2, yielding a remarkable selectivity of 15.6. • The precursor cell manifests an excellent iV oc of 717 mV. • The proof-of-concept p-TOPCon solar cells exhibit a remarkable efficiency of 22.23%. High-quality p-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (p-type TOPCon) is a feasible technical solution to further improve the efficiency of TOPCon silicon solar cells. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology route could deposit boron-doped amorphous silicon film in-situ and thus becomes one of the most promising industry routes to prepare the TOPCon structure. However, the passivation quality of p-type TOPCon by PECVD is not satisfactory till now. In this work, we develop the high-performance p-type TOPCon technology by integrating the ozone-gas oxidation to prepare the ultra-thin SiO x film, which shows excellent passivation and contact properties. The experimental results suggest that the double-sided p-type TOPCon passivated samples with p-type Si substrates receive a maximal implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc) of ∼ 734 mV together with a minimum single-sided saturation current density (J 0,s) of ∼ 4.5 fA/cm2. Correspondingly, the contact resistivity is less than 5 mΩ·cm2, yielding a high selectivity S 10 of 15.6, which is one of the best values for p-type TOPCon technology. As a result, the precursor cell manifests an excellent iV oc of 717 mV, and the p-type silicon solar cell with rear-sided p-type TOPCon passivating contact receives a high efficiency of 22.23%. Generally, this work provides a promising technology for preparing the high-quality p-type TOPCon passivating contact for industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• a-Si:H deposited by PECVD exhibits excellent passivation quality for p-mc-b-Si. • Excellent passivation quality with an iV oc of up to 710 mV is achieved. • a-Si:H passivates surface defects and bulk trap defects of p-mc-b-Si effectively. • a-Si:H/SiN x helps p-mc-b-Si to achieve excellent passivation with low reflectance. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is used as the passivation layer for p-type multi-crystalline black silicon (p-mc-b-Si) wafers. The effects of deposition conditions on passivation quality are investigated. The optimized a-Si:H passivation layer enables the best surface passivation with an implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc) of 710 mV, which is better than other conventional passivation materials. The excellent passivation quality possibly resulted from that the activated hydrogen from a-Si:H at ~200 °C was able to passivate both surface defect states and bulk trap states of p-mc-b-Si effectively. Moreover, an additional SiN x capping layer helps to reduce reflectance significantly and to keep passivation quality. This work suggests that b-Si passivated by a-Si:H/SiN x stack film shows potential for various optoelectronic devices that requires both excellent optical anti-reflectance and surface passivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tube plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) has garnered attention as a promising large-scale production tool for in-situ doped polysilicon due to its high capacity and low equipment cost. In this work, we explore the use of carbon (C)-doped a-Si:H (n +), deposited by tube PECVD, for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells. By introducing carbon atoms into polysilicon, blistering-free polysilicon films with excellent passivation properties can be obtained. The optimized sample with C-doped polysilicon (n +) exhibits remarkable surface passivation with a single-sided saturation current density (J 0,s) of 1.25 fA/cm2, an implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc) of 751 mV, and a corresponding effective lifetime exceeding 18 ms at a minority carrier concentration of 1 × 1015 cm−3. UV Raman measurements reveal that C doping suppresses the crystallization of polysilicon, leading to a significant stress in the film. Despite excessive C doping, the contact resistivity extracted from the TLM method remains below 13.6 mΩ cm2. As a result, a champion conversion efficiency of 23.64 % was achieved in a small-sized proof-of-concept n -type TOPCon solar cell. This demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating C-doped polysilicon (n +) prepared by tube PECVD for high-efficiency and low-cost TOPCon solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ammonium sulfide [(NH 4) 2 S] is introduced to the SnO 2 precursor solution for passivating the SnO 2 surface defects by terminating the Sn dangling bonds at the surface. • The linkage of Sn–S–Pb anchors the perovskite crystals at the perovskite/SnO 2 interface, which increases the electron extraction efficiency and the stability of PSC. • The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSC is greatly promoted from 18.67% to 20.03%, compared with the reference one. Tin oxide (SnO 2) is widely adopted as an electron transport layer (ETL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the oxygen vacancies of the SnO 2 not only are the trap states of the nonradiative recombination of photogenerated carriers, but also build the potential barrier of carrier transport. To solve this issue, ammonium sulfide [(NH 4) 2 S] is introduced to the SnO 2 precursor for passivating the surface defects by terminating the Sn dangling bonds (S–Sn bonds). After reducing the surface traps, the electron mobility and conductivity of SnO 2 film are enhanced significantly while the carrier recombination is decreased. Additionally, the energy level of S-SnO 2 is also slightly modified. Therefore, this sulfide-passivated mothed remarkably improves the electron collection efficiency of the ETL. Furthermore, the linkage of Sn–S–Pb anchors the perovskite crystals at the perovskite/SnO 2 interface, which increases the electron extraction efficiency and the stability of PSC. Based on this S-SnO 2 ETL, the power conversion efficiency of the PSC is greatly promoted from 18.67% to 20.03%, compared with the reference one. In this study, it is proven that the surface defect passivation of SnO 2 is an efficient and simple method to improve the photovoltaic performance, as a promising ETL for high-efficiency device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Surface field-effect passivation is linked with the rear gap size, area fill rate and device pitch. • Negative/positive polarity gap fixed charges enhance hole/electron transport between the rear carrier-selective contacts. • For poor interfacial chemical passivation, negative polarity rear gap fixed charges attain superior field-effect passivation. • A high density of rear gap fixed charges and optimal n -Si wafer doping concentration allow highest efficiencies. • Passivation of front- and rear-interfaces by rear gap fixed charges is more effective for thinner solar cells. Optoelectronic losses due to recombination at the transition region between the asymmetric heterocontacts in interdigitated back contact (IBC) silicon (Si) heterojunction (HJ) solar cells (SCs) tend to hinder a respectable performance-to-cost ratio for c -Si photovoltaics. In this study, we investigated new principles of field-effect passivation incorporating built-in fixed charges in dielectric passivation thin films (DPTFs) on the rear transition/gap region for photovoltaic performance optimization. Negative/positive polarity rear gap fixed charges of a density | Q f | up to 1013 cm−2 significantly enhance hole/electron transport across the transition gap, hence boosting the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Numerical simulations of the electric fields, energy band structures, electron and hole concentrations and current densities revealed how high efficiencies can be achieved through suppression of carrier recombination at the front- and rear-side interfaces, enhancement of carrier selectivity at the heterocontacts, and widening of the minority carrier transport channel in the bulk c -Si, especially in thinner IBC-HJ SCs. While the | Q f | requirement for high PCE is less stringent for high quality chemical passivation of the transition region, negative polarity fixed charges are generally advantageous if | Q f | > 5 × 1011 cm−2, otherwise if | Q f | < 5 × 1011 cm−2, positive polarity fixed charges would allow a high efficiency. Furthermore, poor quality chemical passivation of the front surface or electron transport layer (ETL) can be sufficiently compensated by a high density of negative polarity transition region charges to obtain a superior PCE , and allowing a high tolerance to the ETL fill rate and device pitch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we used the numerical simulation method to study the tunnel oxide passivated carrier-selective contacts (TOPCon) structured solar cells, with the focus especially on the paths towards excellent surface passivation and low contact resistance. The presence of an ultra-thin silicon oxide (SiO 2 ) with high quality (typically low interface-states density, D it ≈ 1 × 10 10 cm −2 eV −1 and low pinhole density, D ph < 1 × 10 −4 ) suppresses the recombination of carriers at the rear surface. As a result, implied open circuit voltage (i V oc ) could be promoted by a value of more than 30 mV comparing with the solar cell without oxide layer, which is the primary benefit originated from TOPCon structure. Corresponding, the iV oc and recombination current density ( J oe ) could reach ∼745 mV and ∼9.5 fA/cm 2 (Δn = 5 × 10 15 cm −3 ) for the 1-Ω cm and 200-μm n-type wafer covered with high-quality oxide and n + -Si layers. In addition to passivation, a well-designed SiO 2 /n + -Si backside structure is also critical for carrier collection. The tunneling current is susceptible to oxide thickness, i.e., a 0.2-nm increase in SiO 2 thickness results in the decrease of the tunneling current by more than one magnitude under certain circumstance. Fortunately, raising the doping in n + -Si layer enhances the tunneling possibility of electron, which allows for a thicker oxide that is favorable to a stable mass production. The simulation suggests that to obtain a high fill factor ( FF , >84%), a minimum forward-bias saturated tunneling current of about 0.01 A/cm 2 , more favorable of 0.1 A/cm 2 , is required for the Si/SiO 2 /n + -Si structure. Generally, our work offers an improved understanding of tunnel oxide, doping layer and their combined effects on TOPCon solar cells. Besides simulation, we also discuss the practical manufactures of how to control the above mentioned parameters, as well as the problems needed to be solved for further work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the prospective crystalline silicon (c-Si) technologies, tunnel oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) solar cells have recently attracted much attention in the photovoltaic community. However, the deficit of open-circuit voltage due to the imperfect passivation performance together with the insufficient understanding of the passivation mechanism, especially for the key structures of TOPCon devices (i.e. , poly-Si/SiO x /c-Si), is a crucial factor to limit the improvement of device efficiency. To unlock the full passivation potential of this type of poly-Si/SiO x /c-Si contact, we report a systematic investigation by combining experiments and simulations. The related results can be summarized: 1) the best passivation can be obtained by optimizing SiO x quality, tailoring the in-diffusion profile, and performing hydrogenation; 2) if SiO x quality is good enough, high-level passivation can be expected even without impurity doping; 3) although the deepened in-diffusion could partially alleviate the degradation of the poor surface passivation, it would also reduce the passivation performance owing to the increased Auger recombination inherent to the high impurity doping; 4) the presence of pinholes would degrade the passivation performance, especially for the cases with the good surface passivation, a shallow in-diffusion and a low doping concentration of poly-Si, where the electric-field effect was minimized. To further confirm these conclusions, recombination distributions and the corresponding current profiles of the minority carriers were reviewed. This work clarifies the passivation mechanism of c-Si/SiO x /poly-Si contact in detail and provides effective guidance for further promoting the passivation level and the efficiencies of TOPCon devices. • An experiment and complementary simulations were designed to confirm the passivation properties of c-Si/SiO x /poly-Si contacts. • Annealing temperature, hydrogenation and SiO x quality were simultaneously regulated to promote passivation quality. • The underlying factors including poly-Si thickness and pinholes to affect the passivation performance were investigated in detail. • Passivation mechanisms were clarified by addressing recombination distributions and current profiles of the minority carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effects of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) preparation conditions and microstructures of the boron-doped polysilicon films on the passivation quality of p-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (p -TOPCon) integrated with plasma-assisted N 2 O oxidation (PANO) SiO x. The B 2 H 6 gas flow, activation temperature, substrate temperature, H 2 dilution ratio, and carbon (C)-doped polycrystalline silicon insertion layer are investigated. The best passivation based on plane-surface n-type CZ-Si lifetime sample manifests an implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc) of 706 mV, a single-sided saturation current density (J 0,s) of 17.9 fA/cm2, and an effective lifetime (τ eff) of 2.25 ms at 1 × 1015 cm−3, showing a slight improvement compared with the controlled sample featuring an iV oc of 703 mV. Although this passivation quality is one of the best specifications of the p -TOPCon featuring PANO SiO x so far, it is insufficient for industry application. Detailed experimental studies and a numerical simulation suggest that the passivation quality is probably weakened by the boron-induced defects located at the interfacial and beneath the SiO x , whose harmful influence is difficult to offset by the field-passivating effect. Generally, we provide new insight into the bottleneck of the p -TOPCon's passivation and then discuss the new strategies for improving the p -TOPCon's passivation in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid thermal anneal (RTA) is used to crystallize the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film to form the phosphorus-doped polysilicon passivated contact in tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells. The effects of annealing temperature, annealing time, cooling time, and the polysilicon thickness on the surface passivation are investigated. The primary advantage of the RTA is reducing the whole crystallization period to ~15 min, shorter than the conventional tube-furnace annealing period of >60 min. We find that the RTA is a robust method to prepare high-quality polysilicon passivated contact without introducing blistering when the thickness of the a-Si:H is less than 40 nm. The optimized RTA process leads to an implied open-circuit voltage (i V oc) of 712 mV and a single-sided dark saturation current density (J 0,s) of 12.5 fA/cm2 in the as-annealed state, which is inferior to the surface passivation of the controlled one prepared by a tube furnace annealing. Fortunately, a subsequent Al 2 O 3 capping hydrogenation improves the i V oc and J 0,s to 727 mV and 4.7 fA/cm2, respectively. The champion conversion efficiency of 23.04% (V oc = 679.0 mV, J sc = 41.97 mA/cm2 and FF = 80.86%) is achieved, which demonstrates the effectiveness of RTA for preparing a high-efficiency polysilicon passivated-contact solar cell. • N-type polysilicon passivated contact structure annealed by Rapid-Thermal Anneal (RTA) is studied. • The effects of the annealing temperature, annealing time, cooling time, polysilicon thickness on surface passivation are investigated. • The whole crystallization period of RTA is reduced to ~15 min with the best i V oc of 727 mV and J 0,s of 4.7 fA/cm2 after hydrogenation. • Limiting polysilicon thickness to less than 40 nm helps to avoid blistering. • The polysilicon passivated-contact solar cell prepared using RTA shows a champion conversion efficiency of 23.04%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a plasma-assisted nitrous-oxide (N 2 O) gas oxidation (PANO) method to prepare the ultrathin silicon oxide (SiO x) for polysilicon (poly-Si) passivated contact. The effects of preparation conditions, including the substrate temperature, processing time, and plasma power, are studied. Afterwards, we integrate the PANO SiO x into the polysilicon passivated contact and optimize the passivation and contact performances. Excellent surface passivation with the n-type poly-Si and PANO SiO x on the n-type c-Si wafer is achieved by 880 °C annealing, which shows competitive passivation quality to the one with NASO SiO x. Champion implied open-circuit voltage (i V oc) and single-sided recombination saturated current (J 0) reach 730 mV and 4.3 fA/cm2 after crystallization; and they are further improved to 747 mV and 2.0 fA/cm2 (3 × 1015cm−3) after subsequent AlO x /SiN x hydrogenation. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we find that the thickness of PANO SiO x ranges 1.1–2.4 nm and the controlled nitric acid oxidized SiO x (NAOS) ranges 1.3–1.8 nm. The contact resistivity (ρ c) is typically <10 mΩ cm2 with the annealing temperature of >820 °C. Also, the crystallinity, phosphorous in-diffusion profile, and current-leaking density of the passivated contacts are investigated. In general, the PANO SiO x and in-situ doping amorphous silicon precursor can be fabricated in one PECVD system without additional equipment or transfer procedures, which is favorable for the high-efficiency, low-cost industrial manufacture. • Ultrathin SiO x prepared by in-line plasma-assisted N 2 O oxidation (PANO) is used for passivated contact. • Passivated contact with PANO SiO x shows competitive quality to that with NASO SiO x. • Champion surface passivation reaches i V oc = 747 mV & J 0 = 2.0 fA/cm2 after hydrogenation. • Contact resistivity becomes <10 mΩ cm2 if annealing temperature is > 820 °C. • Oxidation degree, thickness, and pinhole are characterized for robust passivated contact with PANO SiO x. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigated the gettering of the in-situ phosphorus-doped polysilicon passivating contact that was realized through plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) technology. Interstitial iron (Fe i) induced artificially was used as the marker for estimating gettering effectiveness. The factors on gettering effectiveness are studied, including the fabrication procedures and the structures of the polysilicon passivating contact. The research suggests that the heavily phosphorus-doped polysilicon layer serves as the gettering pool for iron atoms. We found that the measures including raising the annealing temperature, extending the annealing time, increasing the thickness and doping concentration of polysilicon, and lowering the SiO x thickness are helping to improve the gettering effectiveness. Moreover, the subsequent hydrogenation promotes the lifetime and implied open-circuit voltage by reducing Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination. The advantage of the polysilicon passivating contact is the significant effect on the improvement in bulk lifetime, so that the low-quality silicon wafer has the chance to be used for solar cell fabrication with notably improved performance by using the excellent gettering and surface passivation of the polysilicon passivating contact. In summary, this work confirmed that the PECVD-prepared in-situ doped polysilicon passivating contact is an effective process to remove more than 99.99% bulk Fe contamination with an optimal formation procedure, which was essential for the industrial manufacture for silicon solar cells. • In-situ doped polysilicon junction prepared by PECVD shows excellent gettering capability. • Different measures for improving gettering effectiveness are investigated. • Phosphorus-doped polysilicon layer is considered as gettering pool for iron atoms. • Polysilicon junction prepared by PECVD is able to remove >99.99% Fe i contamination. • Champion iV oc of >720 mV after getter is achieved with an original Fe i of ~1 × 1013cm-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an industrial compatible tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) structure on solar-grade p-type c-Si wafer as the rear emitter for high-efficiency solar cells, where the ultrathin silicon oxide (SiO x) is made by plasma-assisted oxidation and the P-doped n-type poly-Si (n+-poly-Si) contact layer by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) with in-situ doping with PH 3 and following the high-temperature annealing. The fabrication processes of SiO x and n+-poly-Si layers are systematically optimized. It is found that the optimized annealing temperature for the crystallization and dopant activation is in the range of 850 °C and 880 °C, which is higher than the similar structure with chemically oxidized SiO x (820 °C). In addition, the samples made with higher PH 3 /SiH 4 doping ratio during the a-Si:H deposition need a lower annealing temperature to reach the similar dopant distribution within the samples made with lower doping ratio but annealed at higher temperature, it means that the optimized annealing temperature decreases with the increase of the PH 3 /SiH 4 doping ratio during the deposition of a-Si:H precursor. The optimized process with post-hydrogenation yields excellent surface passivation on the p-type Si substrate with the implied open-circuit voltage (i V oc) of ∼742 mV, the single-side saturated recombination current density (J 0) of ∼3.0 fA/cm2, the contact resistivity (ρ c) of ∼2–4 mΩ cm2, and the effective minority carrier lifetime (τ eff) of ∼1050 μs (Δn = 1 × 1015 cm-3). With these passivation parameters, a simulation study demonstrates the advantage of rear emitter over the conventional front emitter TOPCon solar cell with ∼22.8% achievable efficiency on solar-grade p-type wafers with current industrial constraints, and ∼24.9% on high quality p-type c-Si wafers with the optimized conditions in R&D laboratories. Our study suggests that the p-type c-Si solar cell with a rear n+-poly-Si TOPCon emitter is a viable structure for high-efficiency solar cell production. • High-quality tunnel SiO x is prepared by plasma-assisted N 2 O oxidation. • Surface passivation depends on PH 3 flow and crystallization temperature. • Excellent surface passivation on p-type substrate is achieved with i V oc = 742 mV, J 0 = 3.0 fA/cm2, τ = 1050 μs? • >22.8% n-type TOPCon rear-emitter solar cell with p-type substrate is viable for industrial manufacture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]