INFLUENCE OF DISLOCATIONS ON DARK CURRENT OF MULTICRYSTALLINE SILICONN+ P JUNCTION

A detailed characterization of the dark current in large grained polyc ristalline silicon cells is given. This current is greatly influenced by the presence of dislocations. A new model for the shunt current tra nsmitted by these defects is given. It is found that this current is p roportional to exp(qV/2 kT). The comparison between the three essentia l components of the dark current (diffusion, recombination and shunt c omponent) indicates that the shunt component is the dominant one at lo w applied voltage (V < 300 mV). Even at higher voltage (V > 300 mV) th e shunt component is comparable to the diffusion one when the dislocat ion density is greater than 10(5) cm-2. The computed results are in ag reement with experimental ones.