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We report on thin-film coatings and catalyst nanoparticles both deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on silicon (Si) photocathodes that simultaneously enhance their performance and stability. Regarding thin-film coatings, we scan various materials (SiO2, TiO2 and Al2O3) appropriate for the electrical passivation of Si surface defects, which result in high minority carrier lifetimes (up to 100 μs). However, these passivating layers seem to act as a barrier for the photogenerated carriers obstructing them from participating in the hydrogen evolution reaction, thus limiting the onset potential (Von). Regarding platinum (Pt) nanoparticles, two deposition approaches are followed based on using different co-reactants during the ALD process, i.e. an O2 pulse or a N2-plasma pulse, with the latter resulting in a higher Von (505 mV). By combining thin-film SiO2 coatings of various thicknesses deposited on top of ALD Pt nanoparticles, a synergetic effect of performance and stability enhancement is observed, with Von values reaching 525 mV. Finally, by systematically studying the Si photocathodes in a day/night cycle operation and using the case of electroless deposited Pt nanoparticles as a benchmark, the N2-plasma deposited Pt nanoparticles coated by ultra-thin SiO2 film show an enhanced stability (85 h-4 days/night cycles).

Σκο̟πός: Οι καρδιαγγειακές ε̟πι̟πλοκές α̟ποτελούν κύρια αιτία νοσηρότητας και θνητότητας στους ασθενείς με κληρονομούμενες αιμοσφαιρινο̟πάθειες και δεδομένης της βελτίωσης του ̟προσδόκιμου ε̟πιβίωσης, ̟προσελκύουν το διαρκώς αυξανόμενο ενδιαφέρον των ερευνητών. Ωστόσο, οι ε̟πι̟πλοκές αυτές δεν έχουν ε̟παρκώς αξιολογηθεί στη Μικροδρε̟πανοκυτταρική Αναιμία. Ασθενείς και Μεθοδολογία: Αξιολογήσαμε 115 ασθενείς με ΜΚΔ, ηλικίας 34±14 ετών,μαζί με 50 υγιείς μάρτυρες, χρησιμο̟ποιώντας ΗΧΚΓ ηρεμίας. Οι ασθενείς ̟που βρέθηκαν να ̟παρουσιάζουν συστολική δυσλειτουργία της ΑΚ ή σοβαρή ΠΥ υ̟ποβλήθηκαν ε̟πι̟ρόσθετα σε Αριστερό και Δεξιό Καρδιακό Καθετηριασμό και Μαγνητική Τομογραφία Μυοκαρδίου (ΜΤΜ). Α̟ποτελέσματα: Οι διαστάσεις των αριστερών και δεξιών κοιλοτήτων, η μάζα της ΑΚ και ο καρδιακός δείκτης ήταν στατιστικά σημαντικά υψηλότεροι στους ̟πάσχοντες συγκριτικά με τους μάρτυρες (p

Dry plasma etching, commonly used by the Photonics community as the etching technique for the fabrication of photonic nanostructures, could be a source of device performance limitations when used in the frame of silicon photovoltaics. So far, the lack of silicon solar cells with state-of-the-art efficiencies utilizing nanophotonic concepts shows how challenging their integration is, owing to the trade-off between optical and electrical properties. In this study we show that dry plasma etching results in the degradation of the silicon material quality due to (i) a high density of dangling bonds and (ii) the presence of sub-surface defects, resulting in high surface recombination velocities and low minority carrier lifetimes. On the contrary, wet chemical anisotropic etching used as an alternative, leads to the formation of inverted nanopyramids that result in low surface recombination velocity and low density of dangling bonds. The proposed inverted nanopyramids could enable high efficiency photonic assisted solar cells by offering the potential to achieve higher short-circuit current without degrading the open circuit voltage. (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

In the frame of the development of thin crystalline silicon solar cell technologies, surface nanopatterning of silicon is gaining importance. Its impact on the material quality is, however, not yet fully controlled.We investigate here the influence of surface nanotexturing on the series resistance of a contacting scheme relevant for thin-film crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Two dimensional periodic nanotextures are fabricated using a combination of nanoimprint lithography and either dry or wet etching, while random pyramid texturing is used for benchmarking. We compare these texturing techniques in terms of their effect on the series resistance of a solar cell through a study of the sheet resistance (Rsh ) and contact resistance (Rc) of its front layers, i.e., a sputtered transparent conductive oxide and evaporated metal contacts. We have found by four-point probe and the transfer length methods that dry-etched nanopatterns render the highest Rsh and Rc values. Wet-etched nanopatterns, on the other hand, have less impact on Rc and render Rsh similar to that obtained from the nontextured case., Authors' post-print version in Abdo et al., IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, July 2015

We have studied surface passivation on nanopatterned crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers (280 µm), thin c-Si wafers (25 µm), ultrathin (~1–6 µm) low temperature epitaxial PECVD and epitaxy-free silicon. Nanopatterned front surfaces were produced by combining nanoimprint lithography with dry or wet etching. The impact of the nanopatterning on the effective lifetime is investigated by means of photoconductance and time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements. Passivation of flat ultra-thin monocrystalline layers by a-Si:H demonstrates effective lifetimes of a few µs. Flat, dry and wet etched c-Si wafers were also passivated by hydrogenated amorphous silicon, thus forming a heterojunction interface. The measured effective lifetimes were 2.2 ms for the flat, 484 μs for the dry and 709 μs for the wet etched wafers, respectively. It is noteworthy that despite the plasma damage associated with the dry etching process, the lifetime measured after passivation remains high enough for the targeted ultrathin solar cells. Solar cells fabricated on wafers nanopatterned via wet etching have reached an open circuit voltage as high as the flat sample thus demonstrating the potential of the use of wet etched nanopatterned surfaces for high efficiency solar cells.

Texturing of crystalline silicon at the light wavelength scale is a promising approach for light management in ever thinner cells. However, this approach requires adapting the device design and process, which has so far revealed to be a challenging task. Indeed, successful integration requires compromising the excellent optical properties for preserving the electrical ones. We briefly summarize what has been learned so far in the community and illustrate some of these learnings with the fabrication and improvement of 1-μ m-thin monocrystalline nanotextured silicon solar cells.

We propose a new design for monolithic solar water splitting based on porous multijunction solar cells. Porosity, causing minimal solar cell degradation, minimizes the ohmic losses associated to ion transport, maintaining high efficiencies when up-scaling.

We propose a back reflecting scheme in order to enhance the maximum achievable current in one micron thick crystalline silicon solar cells. We perform 3D numerical investigations of the scattering properties of metallic nanostructures located at the back side and optimize them for enhancing absorption in the silicon layer. We validate our numerical results experimentally and also compare the absorption enhancement in the solar cell structure, both with quasi-periodic and random metallic nanostructures. We have looked at the interplay between the metallic nanostructures and an integrated back reflector. We show that the combination of metallic nanoparticles and a metallic reflector results in significant parasitic absorption. We compared this to another implementation based on titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which act as a Lambertian reflector of light. Our simulation and experimental results show that this proposed configuration results in reduced absorption losses and in broadband enhancement of absorption for ultra-thin solar cells, paving the way to an optimal back reflector for thin film photovoltaics.

We report on the fabrication, integration, and simulation, both optical and optoelectrical, of two-dimensional photonic nanostructures for advanced light trapping in thin crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. The photonic nanostructures are fabricated by the combination of various lithography (nanoimprint, laser interference, and hole mask colloidal) and etching (dry plasma and wet chemical) techniques. The nanopatterning possibilities thus range from periodic to random corrugations and from inverted nanopyramids to high aspect ratio profiles. Optically, the nanopatterning results in better performance than the standard pyramid texturing, showing a more robust behavior with respect to light incidence angle. Electrically, wet etching results in higher minority carrier lifetimes compared to dry etching. From the integration of the photonic nanostructures into a micron-thin c-Si solar cell certain factors limiting the efficiencies are identified. More precisely: (a) the parasitic absorption is limiting the short circuit current, (b) the conformality of thin-film coatings on the nanopatterned surface is limiting the fill factor, and (c) the material damage from dry etching is limiting the open circuit voltage. From optical simulations, the optimal pattern parameters are identified. From optoelectrical simulations, cell design considerations are discussed, suggesting to position the junction on the opposite side of the nanopattern.

In order to relax the mechanical constraints of processing thin crystalline Si wafers into highly efficient solar cells, we propose a process sequence, where a significant part of the process is done on module level. The device structure is an interdigitated-back-contact cell with an amorphous silicon back surface field. The record cell reaches an independently confirmed efficiency of 18.4%. Although the device deserves further optimization, the result shows the compatibility of processing on glass with efficiencies exceeding 18%, which opens the door to a high-efficiency solar cell process where the potentially thin wafer is attached to a foreign carrier during the full processing sequence.

While the number of techniques for patterning materials at the nanoscale exponentially increases, only a handful of methods approach the conformal patterning of strongly non-planar surfaces. Here, using the direct surface self-assembly of colloids by electrostatics, we produce highly conformal bottom-up nanopatterns with a short-range order. We illustrate the potential of this approach by devising functional nanopatterns on highly non-planar substrates such as pyramid-textured silicon substrates and inherently rough polycrystalline films. We further produce functionalized polycrystalline thin-film silicon solar cells with enhanced optical performance. The perspective presented here to pattern essentially any surface at the nanoscale, in particular surfaces with high inherent roughness or with microscale features, opens new possibilities in a wide range of advanced technologies from affordable photovoltaics and optoelectronics to cellular engineering.

The enhancement of light absorption via nanopatterning in crystalline silicon solar cells is becoming extremely important with the decrease of wafer thickness for the further reduction of solar cell fabrication cost. In order to study the influence of nanopatterning on crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells, we applied two lithography techniques (laser interference lithography and nanoimprint lithography) combined with two etching techniques (dry and wet) to epitaxial crystalline silicon thin films deposited via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at 175 degrees C. The influence of nanopatterning with different etching profiles on solar cell performance is studied. We found that the etching profiles (pitch, depth and diameter) have a stronger impact on the passivation quality (open circuit voltage and fill factor) than on the optical performance (short circuit current density) of the solar cells. We also show that nanopatterns obtained via wet-etching can improve solar cell performance; and in contrast, dry-etching leads to poor passivation related to the etching profile, surface damage, and/ or contamination introduced during the etching process.

We report on the fabrication of disordered nanostructures by combining colloidal lithography and silicon etching. We show good control of the short-range ordered colloidal pattern for a wide range of bead sizes from 170 to 850 nm. The inter-particle spacing follows a Gaussian distribution with the average distance between two neighboring beads (center to center) being approximately twice their diameter, thus enabling the nanopatterning with dimensions relevant to the light wavelength scale. The disordered nanostructures result in a lower integrated reflectance (8.1%) than state-of-the-art random pyramid texturing (11.7%) when fabricated on 700 µm thick wafers. When integrated in a 1.1 µm thin crystalline silicon slab, the absorption is enhanced from 24.0% up to 64.3%. The broadening of resonant modes present for the disordered nanopattern offers a more broadband light confinement compared to a periodic nanopattern. Owing to its simplicity, versatility and the degrees of freedom it offers, this potentially low-cost bottom-up nanopatterning process opens perspectives towards the integration of advanced light-trapping schemes in thin solar cells. ispartof: Optics Express vol:24 issue:2 pages:A191-A201 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The use of low-k materials is essential for improving the quality of integrated circuits. Subsequent process steps may however modify this film to the extent that the final result is unacceptable. Organosilicate-based low-k films, with a nominal k-value of 2.3, were exposed to different post-CMP cleaning plasmas used for copper reduction. The resulting plasma damage was investigated and is reported in this paper. All the studied plasmas increased the density of the low-k film. TOFSIMS and FTIR analyses showed that they all removed CH"3 groups from the bulk, leading to water incorporation. The carbon depletion was more pronounced and deeper (100nm) from a NH"3 plasma than from any other investigated plasma. N"2+H"2 plasma removed somewhat less carbon from the low-k film (83nm deep). The N"2 plasma removed carbon down to a depth of 60nm into the film, while a pure H"2 plasma removed the least carbon of all the investigated plasmas, to a depth of only 35nm. The combination of TOFSIMS and XPS indicated the incorporation of a significant amount of N in the films treated with the pure N"2 plasma. C-V measurements showed an increase of the dielectric constant, again mostly for the NH"3 plasmas. There was an intermediate and approximately equal increase of the dielectric constant for all N"2 containing plasmas, and the least increase was for the H"2 plasma. This increase of the dielectric constant was caused by the increase of density of the film, incorporation of water, and in the case of the N"2 plasma also the incorporation of N. This shows that the presence of N"2 in plasma may significantly damage low-k materials, and it should not therefore be treated as a mere carrier gas.

The integration of two-dimensional (2D) periodic nanopattern defined by nanoimprint lithography and dry etching into aluminum induced crystallization (AIC) based polycrystalline silicon (Poly-Si) thin film solar cells is investigated experimentally. Compared to the unpatterned cell an increase of 6% in the light absorption has been achieved thanks to the nanopattern which, in turn, increased the short circuit current from 20.6 mA/cm2 to 23.8 mA/cm2. The efficiency, on the other hand, has limitedly increased from 6.4% to 6.7%. We show using the transfer length method (TLM) that the surface topography modification caused by the nanopattern has increased the sheet resistance of the antireflection coating (ARC) layer as well as the contact resistance between the ARC layer and the emitter front contacts. This, in turn, resulted in increased series resistance of the nanopatterned cell which has translated into a decreased fill factor, explaining the limited increase in efficiency., Authors' post-print version

Introducing nanophotonics into photovoltaics sets the path for scaling down the surface texture of crystalline-silicon solar cells from the micro-to the nanoscale, allowing to further boost the photon absorption while reducing silicon material loss. However, keeping excellent electrical performance has proven to be very challenging, as the absorber is damaged by the nanotexturing and the sensitivity to the surface recombination is dramatically increased. Here we realize a light-wavelength-scale nanotextured monocrystalline silicon cell with the confirmed efficiency of 8.6% and an effective thickness of only 830 nm. For this we adopt a self-assembled large-area and industry-compatible amorphous ordered nanopatterning, combined with an advanced surface passivation, earning strongly enhanced solar light absorption while retaining efficient electron collection. This prompts the development of highly efficient flexible and semitransparent photovoltaics, based on the industrially mature monocrystalline silicon technology.

In this study nanodisks made from aluminum are incorporated in a back-reflector scheme in order to enhance the maximum achievable current in one-micron thick crystalline silicon solar cells. We perform three-dimensional numerical investigations of the backward scattering properties of aluminum nanodisks located at the back side, and optimize them for enhancing the absorption in the silicon layer. We also compare our results with previously optimized silver nanodisks and show that Al nanodisks are nearly as efficient as Ag counterpart. We show that if the absorption in the metallic back reflector (flat metal layer) can be avoided; this results in a further enhancement in absorption in the ultra-thin silicon layer. The proposed configuration results in a broadband (500nm to 1200nm) enhancement of absorption (~ 58 %) for ultra-thin solar cells and has a great potential in thin film photovoltaic.

A 2-D photonic crystal was integrated experimentally into a thin-film crystalline-silicon solar cell of 1-{\mu}m thickness, after numerical optimization maximizing light absorption in the active material. The photonic crystal boosted the short-circuit current of the cell, but it also damaged its open-circuit voltage and fill factor, which led to an overall decrease in performances. Comparisons between modeled and actual optical behaviors of the cell, and between ideal and actual morphologies, show the global robustness of the nanostructure to experimental deviations, but its particular sensitivity to the conformality of the top coatings and the spread in pattern dimensions, which should not be neglected in the optical model. As for the electrical behavior, the measured internal quantum efficiency shows the strong parasitic absorptions from the transparent conductive oxide and from the back-reflector, as well as the negative impact of the nanopattern on surface passivation. Our exemplifying case, thus, illustrates and experimentally confirms two recommendations for future integration of surface nanostructures for light trapping purposes: 1) the necessity to optimize absorption not for the total stack but for the single active material, and 2) the necessity to avoid damage to the active material by pattern etching., Comment: Authors' postprint version - Editor's pdf published online on Nov. 5

Current structures for solar cells or LEDs often incorporate layers of various optical regimes, with a mixture of coherent, partially coherent or incoherent behavior. We developed a simple and efficient calculation method to study such combined solar cell structures with both wave and ray optics sections. These One-Pass Coherent calculations take wave effects into account where they matter the most, while avoiding a large computational domain to model rough structures. The method simulates a general diffuser by working directly with the reflected wavefronts, instead of using its geometry. We utilize this method to study thin film silicon solar cell structures with a grating on the front and a diffuser at the back. More absorption is obtained with the combined light trapping scheme of appropriate characteristics, compared with grating-only or diffuser-only counterparts. Finally, we report a significant effect of incoherence on the absorption of fairly thin (∼10 μm) cells. We demonstrate that partially incoherent light can be more efficiently absorbed than fully coherent light on average over a broad wavelength range. It turns out that the scarcity of guided modes for fully coherent light can hinder the grating enhancement, leading to a consistently better performance when light coherence is limited or lost.

Patterning the front side of an ultra-thin crystalline silicon (c Si) solar cell helps keeping the energy conversion efficiency high by compensating for the light absorption losses. A super-Gaussian mathematical expression was used in order to encompass a large variety of nanopattern shapes and to study their influence on the photonic performance. We prove that the enhancement in the maximum achievable photo-current is due to both impedance matching condition at short wavelengths and to the wave nature of light at longer wavelengths. We show that the optimal mathematical shape and parameters of the pattern depend on the c Si thickness. An optimal shape comes with a broad optimal parameter zone where fabricating errors would have much less influence on the efficiency. We prove that cylinders are not the best suited shape. To compare our model with a real slab, we fabricated a nanopatterned c Si slab via Nano Imprint Lithography., 21 pages, 7 figures

International audience; In this paper, we present the integration of an absorbing photonic crystal within a monocrystalline silicon thin film photovoltaic stack fabricated without epitaxy. Finite difference time domain optical simulations are performed in order to design one-and two-dimensional photonic crystals to assist crystalline silicon solar cells. The simulations show that the 1D and 2D patterned solar cell stacks would have an increased integrated absorption in the crystalline silicon layer would increase of respectively 38% and 50%, when compared to a similar but unpatterned stack, in the whole wavelength range between 300 nm and 1100 nm. In order to fabricate such patterned stacks, we developed an effective set of processes based on laser holographic lithography, reactive ion etching and inductively coupled plasma etching. Optical measurements performed on the patterned stacks highlight the significant absorption increase achieved in the whole wavelength range of interest, as expected by simulation. Moreover, we show that with this design, the angle of incidence has almost no influence on the absorption for angles as high as around 60°.

In this paper, we present the integration of an absorbing photonic crystal within a monocrystalline silicon thin film solar cell stack. Optical simulations performed on a complete solar cell revealed that patterning the epitaxial monocrystalline silicon active layer as a 1D and 2D photonic crystal enabled to increase its integrated absorption by 38% rel and 50% rel in the whole 300-1100 nm range, compared to a similar but unpatterned stack. In order to fabricate such promising cells, a specific fabrication process based on holographic lithography, inductively coupled plasma etching and reactive ion etching has been developed and implemented to obtain such photonic crystal patterned solar cells. Optical measurements performed on the patterned stacks highlight the significant absorption enhancement, as expected by simulation. A more advanced structuration combining a front and a rear 1D binary photonic patterning with different periods is designed, enabling a 60% abs larger absorption in silicon.

Two dimensional (2D) periodic photonic nanostructures, fabricated by nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and dry etching on the front surface of crystalline silicon (c-Si) layers, are investigated experimentally and theoretically in order to characterize their optical properties and demonstrate their relevance to photovoltaic (PV) applications. Nanoimprint lithography is performed on c-Si wafers and ultra-thin c-Si films with various thicknesses. A comparison with state-ofthe- art front side texturing with an antireflection coating is made. The 2D periodic photonic nanostructures result in an enhanced light absorption in the photoactive material. The results are validated through simulations based on Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA). The nanoimprinted substrates result in a similar absorption compared to the state-ofthe- art random pyramid texturing while consuming less than a micron of photoactive material. In contrast to the random pyramid texturing, the nanopatterning exhibits a robust performance for a wide range of incident angles up to 70°. The light trapping mechanism we propose is based on the combination of a graded index effect and the diffraction of light inside the photoactive layer at high angles.

International audience; In this paper, we present the integration of an absorbing photonic crystal within a thin film photovoltaic solar cell. Optical simulations performed on a complete solar cell revealed that patterning the epitaxial crystalline silicon active layer as a 1D and 2D photonic crystal enabled to increase its integrated absorption by 37%abs and 68%absbetween 300 nm and 1100 nm, compared to a similar but unpatterned stack. In order to fabricate such promising cells, a specific fabrication processes based on holographic lithography, inductively coupled plasma etching and reactive ion etching has been developed and implemented to obtain ultrathin patterned solar cells.

In a recent study, low-k thin films with low dielectric constant ( 5 GPa) were obtained by introducing a remote plasma step between the traditional plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition and UV curing. This study shows that the UV curing step with a narrow band lamp with wavelength of 172 nm induced more network Si-O and Si-H bonds and more densification than the curing step with a broadband lamp with wavelengths higher than 200 nm. As a consequence, the dielectric constant of the narrow band cured film was slightly higher, but Young's modulus and hardness were much improved. Electrical characterization showed good breakdown voltages and a more than sufficient time dependent dielectric breakdown reliability. The broadband lamp was then used to form thicker films which retained very well the characteristics of the thin films. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics ispartof: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 1, Regular Papers, Short Notes & Review Papers vol:50 issue:5 ispartof: 20th Asian Session on the Advanced Metallization Conference (ADMETA) location:JAPAN, Univ Tokyo, Tokyo date:19 Oct - 22 Oct 2010 status: published

Three methods for fabricating crystalline-silicon solar cells thinner than 40 µm down to 1 µm are presented, together with the integration of three nanostructuring schemes - texturing, photonic crystals, plasmons - to boost their light absorption.

Light scattering from ZnO nanorods (NR) is investigated, modeled, and applied to a solar cell. ZnO NR (120-1300 nm long, 280-60 nm large), grown by low-cost chemical bath deposition at 90 degrees C, exhibit diffused-to-total transmitted light as high as 70% and 30% in the 400 and 1000 nm wavelength range, respectively. Data and scattering simulation show that ZnO NR length plays a crucial role in light diffusion effect. A transparent ZnO NR film grown on glass and placed on top of a 1 mu m thick c-Si solar cell is shown to enhance the light-current conversion efficiency for wavelengths longer than 600 nm. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

We report on the fabrication of two-dimensional periodic photonic nanostructures by nanoimprint lithography and dry etching, and their integration into a 1-{\mu}m-thin mono-crystalline silicon solar cell. Thanks to the periodic nanopatterning, a better in-coupling and trapping of light is achieved, resulting in an absorption enhancement. The proposed light trapping mechanism can be explained as the superposition of a graded index effect and of the diffraction of light inside the photoactive layer. The absorption enhancement is translated into a 23% increase in short-circuit current, as compared to the benchmark cell, resulting in an increase in energy-conversion efficiency.

In this paper we want to share our efforts on how to translate our high-quality epitaxial foils (epifoils) into cell-level performance. After framing our motivation in the introduction, we elaborate our approach at imec using available background on this topic and expected challenges. After presenting our method, consisting of layout, buildup and processing sequence, we share and compare our findings, discuss our characterization methods and add some basic simulations to improve our understanding. In conclusion, we demonstrated how we could process epitaxial foils into cells, using a completely low-temperature process and keeping the foils attached to a carrier (parent wafer for the frontside, superstrate glass for the rear side) all the way through. Even though there is room for improvement on several aspects (both electrical and optical), in a first attempt this cell integration already resulted in a best open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 695 mV. Based on the loss analysis, the most promising improvements and their potential impact are pointed out. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.