Investigation of the optoelectronic properties of mu c-Si : H pin solar cells

We have investigated microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) pin solar cells d eposited at different silane concentrations in the gas phase varying from 2 % to 7.2%. For these cells three features were found: the dark current of t he cells decreased, the open circuit voltage increased and the blue respons e reduced with increasing silane concentration during deposition. Tn study the transport and recombination of these structures we have compared the ex perimentally determined optoelectronic properties with simulated data. The simulations reveal that the equilibrium carrier concentration of free carri ers decreases and the affect of the nucleation region of the i-layer on the blue response increases with increasing silane concentration. (C) 2000 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.