Photo-stability of a-Si solar cells fabricated by "Liquid-Si printing method" and treated with catalytic generated atomic hydrogen

The film properties and solar cell performances of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) fabricated by a newly developed non-vacuum process "Liquid-Si printing method" were systematically investigated by comparing to the conventional plasma-chemical vapor deposition method. The as-printed a-Si:H films showed relatively high Urbach-tail characteristic energy (E_ch), high [Si–H₂]/[Si–H], and low photoconductivity (~ 10⁻⁷ S/cm). However, the [Si–H₂]/[Si–H] decreased, and the photoconductivity was improved to the device grade level (~ 10⁻⁵ S/cm) after appropriate catalytic-generated atomic hydrogen treatment. It was also found that the light-induced degradation of the photoconductivity and solar cell efficiency of the printed samples were less than half of the conventional a-Si:H case