Effect of oxygen precipitates in solar grade silicon on minority carrier lifetime and efficiency of solar cells

The effect of oxygen precipitates on minority carrier lifetime and performance of solar cell was studied by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), quasi-steady state photoconductance (QSSPCD), optical microscope, spectrum response and solar cell efficiency test. The minority carrier lifetime and performance of solar cell reduced depend on oxygen precipitates. A few of oxygen precipitates have formed after single-step annealing; and they do not impact the efficiency dramatically. Pre-annealing at 650 °C for 4 h enhances the oxygen precipitation when it is subjected to middle temperature annealing. The solar cells performance decayed sharply. Especially annealing at 950 °C for 3 h, the V os and I sc of cells decrease 12% and 25% respectively. Few oxygen precipitates have formed in silicon after high temperature annealing at about 1050 °C whether pre-annealing is used or not, and the performance of cells is not be affected.